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How long are COVID-19 test results taking in Lancaster County? A lot depends on the lab

When people get tested for COVID-19, how long results take depends on where they are processed.

Priority cases that go to the state or a health system’s labs are generally finished within a few to 48 hours. However, those labs don’t have enough capacity to handle all 22,000 tests currently being done daily in Pennsylvania.

So in Lancaster County and throughout the state, many of the tests are sent to commercial labs like Quest Diagnostics or LabCorp, which handle tests from across the nation and are getting backlogged because of outbreaks in other states.

Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital reports only 12 COVID-19 patients, lowest since March

Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital is processing about 2,100 tests per week for patients needing urgent or emergency procedures and people suspected of having the coronavirus. The average turnaround time for those tests is less than a day.

LGH sends about 1,200 other tests per week to Quest, where tests results are available after four or five days.

Dr. Michael Ripchinski is chief clinical officer at LGH, which was awarded a nearly $25 million contract in May to lead local testing and contact tracing efforts. He said the general goal is to get COVID-19 test results within three days.

He believes, he said, that it’s easier to get a test here now than at any point earlier in the pandemic, and he’s “expecting that capacity to test with better turnaround times to increase, as we bring on new technologies at LGH and we look for other partners in the region.”

He said getting test results sooner is better so people testing positive can be informed and any contacts who were potentially exposed can quickly be alerted.

The coronavirus can spread quickly — some people develop symptoms as soon as two days after being exposed — and people can spread the virus even if they don’t develop symptoms.

More testing

When Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health was awarded the contract in May, the system estimated it might eventually take as many as 800 to 1,000 tests a day across the country to manage the pandemic well.

So far, overall numbers are consistently below that estimate, although Ripchinski said the county’s numbers were in that range two days in the past week.

Overall, though, state data shows the county averaged 497 tests a day in June, 580 a day in July and 585 a day so far in August.

Ripchinski said how many tests are needed comes down to what’s happening in the community and trying to ensure that everyone who meets the medical criteria to be tested can be.

Lancaster General recently broadened those criteria a bit, with the commissioners’ approval. He also noted that the system was not given a lump sum up front from the $24.7 million contract, but will be paid for services rendered.

He also said given persistent nationwide testing shortages and delays, setting testing protocols is a balancing act “so we can ensure we don’t overwhelm the system and make turnaround times longer.”

All three county commissioners said by email Wednesday that they are satisfied or pleased with how things are going under the contract with Lancaster General.

“Since the county does not have a public health department, without LGH stepping up, we would likely lack the local contact tracing and local testing capacity that is currently in place,” Commissioner Craig Lehman wrote.

17 county testing sites

Lancaster General has seven of the 17 COVID-19 testing sites in the county, according to an interactive map from the state health department. The other 10 sites report similar dynamics; most are sending tests to commercial labs, although UPMC Pinnacle and WellSpan Health are doing some in-house.

UPMC doesn’t report local numbers, but said the majority of its tests in central Pennsylvania go to Quest, with turnaround varying by circumstance.

WellSpan said it does 80 to 100 in-house tests a week from Lancaster County, and sends about 325 to commercial labs; depending on the reason for testing, the commercial results take one to five days, or 10 to 14 days.

State health department spokesman Nate Wardle said in an email that the state lab can handle 1,000 to 1,200 priority cases, in situations where an individual may have exposed many other people, especially in places like nursing homes or schools.

By contrast, he said, Quest can take seven days or more, “potentially up to 14,” and the department has heard that LabCorp is taking approximately four days.

Test result times

Of 17 places in Lancaster County that the Pennsylvania Department of Health has identified as COVID-19 testing locations, seven are associated with Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health. The remaining 10 and the information they provided on testing are as follows:

• WellSpan Health (2 sites): 80 to 100 in-house tests a week from Lancaster County; sends about 325 to commercial labs; depending on the reason for testing, the commercial results take one to five days, or 10 to 14 days.

• UPMC Lititz (2 sites): Doesn’t provide local numbers, but reported its broader system can process up to 2,000 tests per day in-house, with results within 48 hours; the majority of its tests in central Pennsylvania go to Quest, “with turnaround times dependent on priority level and volumes.”

• CVS (2 sites): Doesn’t provide local numbers. One of its partners got backlogged, with results taking six to 10 days and sometimes longer. It has added new partners and now expects majority of results within three to seven days.

• Lancaster Health Center: Averages 56 tests a week. Uses LabCorp; results are taking 24 to 48 hours.

• Patient First: Averages 185 tests a week from Lancaster, up from 108 in June. Uses Quest, with results taking five to eight days.

• Family First Health: Averages several patients tested a week. Turnaround recently improved to three days or less.

• MedExpress: Results are taking three to five days.

Find the full article: https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/how-long-are-covid-19-test-results-taking-in-lancaster-county-a-lot-depends-on/article_0bcaf79a-db20-11ea-9d37-bfdd6ac3eed5.html

Pa. Latinos suffered most & did essential jobs during pandemic: Please don’t forget them

Dr. Luis Garcia

The number of global COVID-19 cases has surpassed 10 million infections, with the U.S. accounting for over 2 million of them, according to Johns Hopkins University. Across the country, the infamous invisible enemy poses a threat to all, but presents an even greater danger to our most vulnerable populations; namely, essential workers, those with underlying health issues and minority communities.

As a Primary Care Provider at Family First Health, a federally qualified healthcare center based in central Pennsylvania, I have seen a disproportionate number of coronavirus cases in Latino patients. Since launching our own testing site in May, the data we’ve gathered proves if a patient is Latino, he or she is about five times more likely to test positive for COVID-19.

This is particularly evident in York and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Both central Pennsylvania counties have high Latino populations that were particularly hard hit by COVID-19. U.S. Census data from 2019 details 8% of York’s population as Latino, with the same groups accounting for 11% of Lancaster. Within the City of York where the health center that I practice at is located,

Luis Garcia is a family physician at Family First Health, focusing on caring for the Spanish-speaking community. He is a graduate of the York Hospital Family Medicine program. He received a “Top 40 under 40 Physician” award for the state of Pennsylvania in 2016 and serves on the board of the Women’s Care Center in York.

Latinos represent 33.3% of the city’s population and account for 71.6% of the confirmed COVID-19 cases. 

Often, this population, including many of my own patients, work essential jobs at grocery stores, restaurants, factories, farms, in construction, sanitation, the medical field and beyond. They are essential workers who don’t have the luxury of working from home and can’t afford to leave or lose their jobs in an effort to mitigate their risk of getting sick. We are at a point when those who are keeping our country going are at the highest risk, and we’re not supporting them with necessary resources and pay.

For me, it has been no surprise to witness the higher rates of COVID in the Latino population. In particular, the Latino population is burdened with nearly a 25% poverty rate, which is compounded by little or no insurance, language barriers, poor housing and more. These chronic stressors, or social determinants of health, are some of the leading factors in a person’s ability to remain healthy. Latinos also have a significantly higher chance of suffering with chronic disease such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity, all of which are thought to make a person more susceptible to COVID and its serious complications.  

By industry, more than a quarter (27.3%) of Latinos employed in the U.S. work in construction, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Another 23.1% work in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting; 22.3% work in leisure and hospitality. All of these industries have been among the most at-risk for COVID.

In my own community, I’ve seen firsthand where several COVID cases stemmed from one high-contact facility that required people to work closely together and not abide by social distancing. While it’s laudable that our country has recognized the challenges and risks of people working in these conditions, my concern is that once the proverbial dust of COVID settles, these people will return to be the forgotten working-poor of our nation. This can be said of many of our nation’s essential workforce, which is largely made up of minorities who, though our economy was “shut down,” served as the backbone of keeping our nation afloat over the past few months.Get the Fixing York newsletter in your inbox.

As re-openings continue and, in some places, cease across the country, many employers have taken additional sanitary precautions to safeguard staff and public health. This has given some essential workers a newfound sliver of confidence in performing their jobs. But this wasn’t the case early on in the pandemic, and many of those working in essential duties who already suffer from higher health burdens have borne the brunt of COVID cases. In a local facility outbreak, as my patients have shared, it wasn’t until three weeks after the national alarm was declared in mid-March that there were safety measures placed to protect the employees. By then it was too late.

Dozens of employees were diagnosed, and one eventually died. Likewise, across the country in these types of high-contact facilities, these essential workers were denied the essential protections they needed and were treated as dispensable. As employees were beginning to become sick in one of our local outbreaks, the facility began filling those positions with temporary workers. One of those workers was my patient, who ended up getting COVID-19 and now remains unemployed.

Further, my Spanish-speaking patients are being forgotten by the tech community. The pandemic has forced medicine into telehealth, which has been a great asset to providing care at a safe distance. Yet many of my patients struggle with even the simplest telehealth platform.  As an example, a patient receives a text to click on a link and sign in to his or her visit. While this might seem like an easy task for most of us, this is a hard-stop barrier for those who can’t read English or lack technological literacy.

While most persons have smartphones with cameras, few of my patients have Wi-Fi, making any video telehealth visits prone to a poor connection. In fact, only 46% of U.S. Hispanic adults access the Internet through a home broadband connection, according to the Pew Research Center, compared to 76% of whites. The technological divide toward minorities is further seen by the lack of easily being able to use language interpretation services during telehealth visits, thus limiting their access to care. 

In many ways, the pandemic has been an awakening, highlighting systems of injustice that have plagued our nation for centuries. Yet, as David Shipler wrote in the national bestseller “The Working Poor,” these people who are essential to our nation and economy remain largely invisible. Prior to March of 2020, how many of us could honestly say that we considered the working conditions of those who processed the raw ingredients for a delicious meal at our favorite restaurant? What of the person who cleaned the dishes at said restaurant, or the one who harvested the lettuce that went with our meal? Despite the fact that most of my patients work in these hidden areas of our society, I count myself among the ones who did not remember them as often as I should. 

The lesson here is that the working poor, these people who serve as the backbone of our economy, might be receiving a sliver of limelight in the wake of the pandemic, but when this is all over, my inclination is they will return to being invisible and forgotten.

As our country reopens, let’s not forget them.  On a national level we must rally for living wages that can allow them to afford healthier lifestyles and better living conditions. We should fight for a healthcare system that has equitable access to Latinos and all poor and marginalized.

While it may seem out of our control to impact these injustices that they face, there are things we can do on the individual level to impact change. Let’s respect and honor the dignity of the working poor as humans and the integrity of their work. We can change our own behaviors and attitudes toward those who work in these areas of our society. We can look at others not as the position they work in, but as a person.

This could be as simple as being kind to the customer service agent after we’ve been on hold for a half hour or greeting the custodian in our work building by their name with a friendly “hello.” It could be leaving a tip for housekeeping the next time we stay in a hotel or supporting restaurants that provide a fair wage to their kitchen staff. When we see others as fellow humans – people – we can respect them enough to also want to protect them from the virus.

By wearing a mask and honoring physical distancing, we are protecting others from the virus. Thus, we are performing an act of charity, especially to those essential workers who have been risking themselves for months just so they can continue to support their families. My hope is that by doing this now, by being kind and charitable to the essential working poor, we won’t forget them later. 

Dr. Luis Garcia joined Family First Health in 2014. He is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians, and FACTS, an organization to promote and educate medical professionals about fertility awareness-based methods. Learn more at FamilyFirstHealth.org.

Find the full article: https://www.ydr.com/story/opinion/2020/08/05/latinos-suffered-most-did-essential-jobs-during-pandemic-dont-forget-them/3298263001/

COVID-19 Updates

NEW! Options For Care:

Due to the current situation with COVID-19, we are now offering more options for our patients to receive their care:

  • Telehealth (Over the phone)
    To help our patients continue to receive their medical care while social distancing, we have added the option of medical visits over the phone. If you are interested in participating for an upcoming visit, please reach out to your site directly.
  • Video
    To help our patients continue to receive their medical care while social distancing, we have added the option of medical visits over video chat. If you are interested in participating for an upcoming visit, please reach out to your site directly.
    
  • In-Person
    We will still be giving patients the option for their traditional in-person medical visits, but we have made some adjustments to our delivery of care model. Please see the changes to medical and dental visits below.

Resources:

Yellow Phase Info – EnglishDownload
Yellow Phase Info – SpanishDownload
SAMSHA Taking Care of Your Behavioral HealthDownload
York Co. Resource Guide – EnglishDownload
York Co. Resource Guide – SpanishDownload
Adams Co. Resource Guide – EnglishDownload
Adams Co. Resource Guide – SpanishDownload

Lancaster Co. Resources – English & Spanish

Lebanon Co. Resource Guide – EnglishDownload
Lebanon Co. Resource Guide – SpanishDownload

“The CARES Act requires providers that order and/or provide testing to post the cash price of these services to their public website. The cost of receiving these services at Family First Health is as follows: 

  1. CPT code 99000 (Handling and/or conveyance of specimen for transfer from the office to a laboratory)  the standard charge is $15.00
  2. CPT code 99001 (Handling and/or conveyance of specimen for transfer from the patient in other than an office to a laboratory) the standard charge is $26.00. 

These charges are the standard prices for an uninsured patient above 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.”

New FFH Site Opens In Lebanon

A new health center will provide access to primary care, integrated behavioral health care and other essential health services to Lebanon County residents.

FFH is a Federally Qualified Health Center with six sites in Lancaster, York and Adams counties. Building on a 50-year history, FFH is designed to help patients address barriers to good health that are often experienced by the 30 percent of Lebanon County residents living in poverty. A 14-member community advisory group of Lebanon leaders chose FFH as the primary care partner for the Dixon Center.

Jenny Englerth, president and CEO of FFH, said the new center has received strong support from other local health providers and social service agencies, as the community works together to open doors to better health for vulnerable patients. For example, Family First will send its obstetric patients to Lebanon Family Health Services, where they will receive services provided by the WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program. Lebanon Family Health Services also will provide educational classes in parenting, diabetes prevention and tobacco cessation to FFH patients.

“We appreciate the warm welcome the Lebanon community has offered us,” Englerth said. “Together, we will work to help local residents achieve their best health.”

To provide easy access to FFH, a new entrance was added off the rear parking lot of the WellSpan Dixon Foundation Health Center. The entrance also gives patients and visitors access to other services located in the building, including WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital’s rehabilitation unit, WellSpan Family Medicine – North Fourth Street and WellSpan diabetes and nutrition counselors.

Plans are to add a community room and space for other services that will support vulnerable patients to the adjoining area of the Dixon Center.

“WellSpan is excited to support this health center,” said Tom Harlow, senior vice president of WellSpan Health and president of WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital. “We look forward to continuing to partner with Family First Health in supporting the health of our community.”

Family First Health’s Nicole Durham, CRNP, Achieves HIV Specialist Credential from The American Academy of HIV Medicine

Nicole Durham, CRNP at Family First Health, has achieved the HIV Specialist credential through the American Academy of HIV Medicine.

Open to physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants working in direct clinical care, the AAHIVM HIV Specialist credential is the only one of its kind nationwide, creating a standard by which all HIV care providers should deliver quality HIV care. Attaining this credential is a way to remain current, demonstrate frontline experience, and evolve with changes in HIV technology, with discoveries of new treatments and shifts in the nation’s health care system. This credential confirms a provider’s commitment to maintaining continuing competence through ongoing learning, experience, and self-assessment.

Nicole joined Family First Health in 2013. She completed HIV training in September 2014 and started seeing patients in 2015. A nurse practitioner in the program, Durham currently cares for 100-110 individual patients, providing both HIV specific care and general primary care. She received her Bachelor’s in Nursing (BSN) in 2000 and her Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN) in 2013, both from York College. In 2013 she received certification as a Board Certified Primary Care Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner. Completing clinical rotations with the REACCH program in Harrisburg prior to her tenure at Family First Health sparked her passion for HIV care.

Durham’s philosophy regarding her care of HIV patients is as follows: “As I listen to your life story, I pass no judgements about your lifestyle. Your life and your choices are yours to make. My job is to keep you as healthy and as educated as I can while you live your best life.”

Durham is the second provider at Family First Health to receive the HIV Specialist credential; Asceline Go, MD, Vice President of Medical Services, received this credential in 2018.

Through Family First Health’s Caring Together program, we offer a seamless system of coordinated, high-quality care for people who are HIV positive, so they can access the services they need. Interested individuals can call 717-846-6776 for more information.

Family First Health also offers free, confidential HIV testing and counseling for individuals ages 13 and older at our George Street Center, Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Family First Health to celebrate HIV Testing Day on June 27

On June 27th Family First Health will celebrate HIV Testing Day by offering free, confidential HIV testing from 8:30 am-3:30 pm at our George Street Center in Downtown York. This is a collaborative effort between Family First Health, WellSpan Community Health Center and the York City Bureau of Health.

National HIV Testing Day is an annual campaign coordinated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to encourage people of all ages to get tested for HIV, know their status and get linked to care and treatment.

Family First Health collaborates with WellSpan Health to provide coordinated, high-quality care for people who are HIV positive. The Caring Together program helps patients easily access the services they need.

In honor of the upcoming HIV Testing Day, one of our patients generously agreed to share their story.

How long have you been HIV-positive?

Since 2009

Why did you decide to get care?

I was in denial for about one month, thought I had the flu or just a really bad cold. I started getting really back fevers, had a terrible rash on my tongue (what I learned later was thrush), and started passing out at work. One day I felt really sick so I decided to go to the emergency room to get checked out. The Dr in the ER told me I had the virus and that if I went home that night I would die. So my choices were to go home and die or stay at the hospital to be treated- I stayed at the hospital. I was inpatient for about one month. When I was discharged I came to FFH for my outpatient medical care. Staff at FFH helped me get insurance, pay for the expensive medications, and with other resources.

What’s your advice to others who have been recently diagnosed with HIV?

Look towards the future because of new medications, we can have a future. Take your medications daily, make sure you are involved with FFH Caring Together to get support and resources.

What do you think is the biggest misconception about living with HIV/AIDS?

A lot of people still think HIV/AIDS is a death sentence, it is not anymore. People need to be educated to know it is not taboo; it is not a death sentence. People with HIV/AIDS should not loose friends over family over the disease.

What do you think needs to happen to reduce the stigma around HIV/AIDS?

Clear idea of what treatment looks like, which is taking your medication every day. Also, showing the faces the HIV/AIDS- anyone can get it.

Why should people know their status?

So they can continue to live a healthy life. If sexually active, to not pass it to others and to be safe.

How can others show their support of people living with HIV/AIDS?

Just be supportive. Be there for us and give us hope to live.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

After I was diagnosed, I felt hopeless and guilty. I blamed myself because of my behaviors and my lifestyle that most likely was the reason why I got infected. The staff at FFH helped me see I had purpose in life and gave me hope to continue to live.

Family First Health Announced as a Finalist in the 2019 Nonprofit Innovation Awards Program

York, PA: Family First Health is pleased to announce that we will be recognized as a finalist in Central Penn Business Journal’s 2019 Nonprofit Innovation Awards Program.

Family First Health will receive this recognition for our Connections for a Healthy Pregnancy program. Connections for a Healthy Pregnancy is a free community outreach program that supports expectant mothers living in York City and surrounding communities by connecting them to community resources that can mitigate or remove barriers to good health – increasing the likelihood of a healthy pregnancy outcome.

Community Health Workers meet with expectant mothers at their prenatal visit with the obstetric care provider and then check in on a regular basis through home visits and phone calls to access needs, provide peer support and offer connections to community resources.

The Connections for a Healthy Pregnancy program began in December 2017. Currently nearly 80 expectant mothers are participating in the program.

An awards breakfast will be held on Wednesday, March 20, from 7:30 a.m. to 10 am at the Valencia Ballroom in York. Tickets are available online at www.CPBJ.com/events.

Pressley Ridge and Family First Health Partner to Hold Support Group for Children and Youth Impacted by Substance Use

York, PA: Pressley Ridge and Family First Health are welcoming referrals for Healing Ahead, a supportive group for children and youth, ages 12-17, directly impacted by substance use in their families or with their friends.

The program includes 6 weekly sessions, held from January 16 until February 20. Sessions will be held at the Pressley Ridge York Office from 5:00-6:00 p.m. The Pressley Ridge York Office is located at 141 E. Market Street in York. Snacks and drinks will be provided.

The group is FREE to all participants, made possible by support from the Rotary Club of York. Participants will receive a $25 gift card upon completion of the 6-week program.

Please contact Pressley Ridge for referral forms at 717-845-6624.