[Canton-Potsdam Hospital Director of Laboratory Services Spurgeon Smith, MD, observes the teamwork of Clinical Laboratory Technologists Elizabeth St. Pierre and Christopher Saucier as they simulate how a tray of vials is inserted into a Rheonix fast testing unit to check them for COVID-19.]
St. Lawrence Health (SLHS) is equipped with a number of Rheonix COVID-19 fast testing equipment to test samples taken from individuals who are suspect of having the disease, and from its own staff members.
To date, Canton-Potsdam Hospital (CPH) has four Rheonix devices, and Gouverneur Hospital and Massena Hospital each have one. SLHS has six more devices on order, and will be receiving an additional device from St. Lawrence County.
“The seven new instruments will be placed wherever they are needed throughout the System,” noted CPH Administrative Laboratory Director Karen Cox. “These additional instruments will allow us to double the capacity for the surge in testing we are likely to see.”
It takes approximately five hours for a batch of tests to be completed, and when all instruments are operational, hundreds of tests can be processed each day across SLHS’s three hospitals. Previously, the System’s hospitals had to send their tests outside of the organization to be processed.
Although the new instruments are fast, they still use the gold-standard PCR method. In contrast, the majority of rapid tests available to the public rely on antigen testing or less sensitive molecular testing methods, which are known to have poor accuracy with a high percentage of false-negative results. The Rheonix systems allow SLHS to continue to provide highly accurate and reliable testing much faster than was previously available.
“It is our goal to provide all our testing in-house, and it’s our end-goal to serve the community by expanding our testing capacity,” Ms. Cox said. “Having these devices is a real game changer for testing of the general public.”
“We are excited to be able to offer this testing in St. Lawrence Country,” stated CPH Director of Laboratory Services Spurgeon Smith, MD.
The nasopharyngeal specimens coming to SLHS for processing are from patients going to the System’s testing centers, current hospitalized patients, nursing homes, offices, schools, colleges, or businesses.
