MEDFORD, Ore. — This week, Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center opened its new in-house testing of presumptive coronavirus patients.
Asante already has a mobile testing site near the South Fred Meyer in Medford.
Workers there collect specimens from approved patients through a nasal swab test to send off to a state or commercial laboratory.
However, getting results back can take 5 to 7 days or more.
The new on-site test is for hospitalized Asante patients only and tests are run at Asante’s in-house laboratory.
Asante says it’s run 30 tests so far and can get results back within 24-hours.
“Once you’re in the hospital and their condition has come to that point where they need hospital care, then getting results back on a test like this is really crucial, [it’s] really crucial to their patient care,” said Lauren Van Sickle, Asante spokesperson.
When Asante’s mobile testing center first opened, Van Sickle says they saw upwards of 200 people a day.
That number is now down to roughly 86 people.
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