BOISE, Idaho —
As the coronavirus rages on, testing has become a focal point in the battle against COVID-19 across the globe.
In Idaho, many samples need to be shipped to different labs in the Northwest for testing, which takes precious time to get test results back. However, that will soon change for some tests as St. Luke's begins conducting in-house testing.
The turnaround for test results in this process can take days. St. Luke's said doctors first need to get the testing kits, test someone, match the patient to the right sample, properly freeze samples for out of state shipping, ship the samples to a lab, the lab has to then test the samples, and then the labs send the results back to local doctors. Once the results are sent, local doctors still have to verify the test results belong to the correct patient. This entire process can take several days.
Now with in-house testing, St. Luke's said they will be able to cut the turnaround time for COVID-19 testing down to two to four hours once they smooth out the process and rely on all of the tools and equipment that they have at hand.
“Shortage of testing and mostly testing kits are real and painful obstacles that we faced as the virus spread throughout the nation," St. Luke’s Laboratory Director Kola Ogunrinola said in a press release.
St. Luke's has four ways of testing for COVID-19 but they couldn't get the substance needed to run the tests because of the high demand for it. Now, the medical group has enough of the substance to begin testing in-house for COVID-19 with two of its instruments.
The group's labs in Boise, Twin Falls, Ketchum, Meridian, Nampa, and McCall are also now able to begin testing.
By May, St. Luke's said the labs' test capacity will be more than 1,700 a day.
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