New guidance for weekday evening, weekend COVID-19 testing for symptomatic critical employees/housemates

Hershey Medical Center has extended COVID-19 testing hours for critical employees and those with whom they live who show symptoms of coronavirus in order to facilitate the employees’ return to work. Beginning tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 31, evening and weekend testing is available.

The Critical Employee and Housemate Symptomatic COVID-19 Testing Guidance, available on the Infonet, explains the process to access testing during the extended hours.

To get the after-hours testing, critical employees must be required to return to work in the next 12 to 24 hours, and replacement coverage for the employee’s job responsibilities must not be available. By definition, the absence of a critical employee will significantly affect patient care.

If testing is required on weekends before 5 p.m., the critical employee must contact Employee Health at Hershey Medical Center at x4208. Community Practice Division employees should contact their practice site managers. The guidance provides important details for obtaining urgent swabbing for the impacted employee and housemate. Access to swabbing will be available at 35 Hope Drive from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for approved individuals.

If testing is required in the evening after 5 p.m., critical employees and their housemates will use the Penn State Health On Demand App: Employee Coronavirus Screening Module. The Guidance provides important details for accessing the App module and obtaining urgent swabbing for the impacted employee and housemate. Access for swabbing will be available at the Medical Center North Entrance from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m for approved individuals.

The expanded service hours ensure that critical employees can more quickly rule out infection and return to work, or expedite their quarantine if they test positive.

Employees should review the new guidance to ensure they are following the proper procedures to access testing.

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