SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) -
It’s easier now to get a coronavirus test than it was at the start of the pandemic but getting results can still take a while. Two employees at KY3 said Mercy’s Urgent Care couldn’t promise them fast results. One was told it could take anywhere from two to 16 days before getting their results. Another employee called after waiting for five days.
Mercy said in a statement that it has increased the ability to schedule same-day appointments and testing, leading to the lab getting backed-up.
CoxHealth is not seeing the same delay in test results.
“It’s definitely not been an increase in days for the vast majority of people at least,” Kaitlyn McConnell, media relations for Cox, said. “It’s a few hours really so maybe it went from 24 to 36 or 72 hours but not massive amounts of time.”
Cox has two ways of testing its patients. Most patients go to a mobile clinics and they find out results within two to three days. Some patients get tested in-house with their rapid test machine.
“It is pretty limited just because of the availability of the test so it would probably be more in emergent situations, if we need to know something very quickly then we could use that,” McConnell said.
The rapid test machine can get those patients results within 45 minutes to an hour. CoxHealth is advising people to check their online portal if they’re awaiting test results.
“We are calling everyone who has a positive result so they will hear from someone, from us, if they are testing positive,” said McConnell.
Mercy says it plans to get more in-house rapid tests by mid-August to alleviate some of the stress on the labs and reduce the wait time for patients.
CoxHealth says it tries to get test results back to patients as fast as possible because they are asked to quarantine while they wait for their results.
“More symptomatic people are in the community and that puts more of a demand on those testing resources and the labs that are processing them,” McConnell said.
Mercy couldn’t provide anyone to speak with us directly but did send the following statement:
“Patients across the country have been experiencing longer wait times for their COVID-19 test results due to an increase in testing and lab back-ups. We are doing everything on our end to expedite the process, including increasing our ability to schedule same-day appointments and share results as soon as we receive them. Hospitalized patients whose symptoms indicate they may have COVID-19 have access to Mercy’s rapid in-house testing, which will expand by mid-August. This should help process tests more quickly, and help ease the strain on our contracted lab partners, who are very busy due to an increase in demand for COVID-19 testing.”
Copyright 2020 KY3. All rights reserved.
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Mercy's Urgent Care sees delays in COVID-19 test results; CoxHealth doesn't see same delays - KYTV
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