Centerville Clinics administer 111 COVID-19 tests; none positive for novel coronavirus
Courtesy of Barry Niccolai
Two physicians and their assistants don protective gear Friday at Centerville Clinic.
A negative pressure room at the Joseph A. Yablonski Memorial Clinic in Centerville
Those who were already patients of Centerville Clinics have taken advantage of testing for the novel coronavirus, but all 111 tests have been negative.
The clinics’ staff of 30 health-care providers serve a variety of needs for approximately 40,000 patients, according to Barry Niccolai, the clinics’ executive director.
Three clinics in two counties began testing for COVID-19 on March 11, treating 427 patients whose screenings classified them as being “at-risk.”
“As of Friday, no positive results have been reported by LabCorp,” based in Burlington, N.C., according to a news release from Centerville Clinics Inc.
If someone tests negative for influenza or strep, a medical professional will continue to explore other options including COVID-19 testing, if warranted by meeting the criteria for the novel coronavirus.
“We have chosen not to go the quicker route with “presumptive” results that could potentially include false positives or false negatives,” Niccolai added. “We are sending all of ours for confirmation testing straight away.”
Results from tests run by LabCorp are returned within three to six days. “As testing ramps up, we hope turn-around time will diminish,” Niccolai said.
“I don’t know that there is any local facility that’s getting any confirmatory results back any quicker,” said Dr. Daniel Holt, medical director at the clinics.
The Joseph A. Yablonski Memorial Clinic in Centerville, Washington Family Doctors and Uniontown Family Doctors in Fayette County now have a negative-pressure examination room to keep other rooms in the buildings safe as air is dispersed outdoors without circulating through the rest of the rooms.
The air-handling systems were installed in-house, and the assigned staff, clad in gowns, masks, caps and booties to keep themselves safe can unzip and zip plastic sheeting as they go in and out.
The addition of the negative-pressure rooms is two-pronged, according to Holt.
“It’s taking care of our patients and communities, providing a front-line place to keep folks away from the hospital, unless they have to go to the hospital, because we could overwhelm the hospitals quickly,” Holt said. “When the crisis really peaks here, we can do our part so the sickest of the sick will have a place to go.”
As an extra precaution, the clinics will also be launching “telehealth” conferences between patient and physician via computer or smartphone so that healthy people can keep their distance during checkups and other routine matters.
Niccolai hopes to see the new feature begin “within the next week or so. Of course we have 30 providers with a full schedule of (seeing) 21 people a day,” he said.