Hershey RVP testing partially restored
Limited Respiratory Viral Panel (RVP) testing is again available in the Hershey Medical Center Virology Lab.
The new estimated turnaround time for an RVP test is four hours. Inpatient testing will be prioritized over outpatient testing.
The lab’s staff asks that employees avoid ordering an RVP test unless the full panel is essential, and that they do not place an order solely to secure a COVID test. Because of the extended temporary turnaround time of RVP testing, the lab will temporarily run any testing ordered at the same time as an RVP concurrently.
A water incursion had damaged the primary RVP testing instrument, which will be replaced over the next several weeks.
Lab personnel has temporarily put into service a backup instrument to continue to expand testing capacity over the next few days. The backup instrument can only run two tests at a time, a limiting factor that led to the temporary extended turnaround time.
Lab staff hope to expand this capacity to five tests later this week. The system will not return to full capacity until the primary instrument is replaced.
COVID testing is unaffected by this instrument failure. The “COVID-19 Coronavirus Same Day” test with a turnaround time of 2 1/2 hours is available for the inpatient population. The “COVID-19 Coronavirus Next Day” test with a turnaround time of one to two days is available for the inpatient and outpatient population.
Contact Dr. Wallace Greene or Gwen Howell on TigerConnect for more information.
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