From staff reports
Butler Health System, which includes Clarion Hospital, has been busy in testing for the virus.
“We have been aggressive in our testing since day one. We have open air swab collection stations both in Clarion and in Butler,” Clarion Hospital President Steven Davis said. “We have tested over 1,000 people so far.
“We have tried to protect the staff, the patients and the community, and the way we have done that is through these collection sites. They don’t have to get out of their car or go into the hospital. They don’t need to expose themselves or expose others. We want to be sure we are doing this the safest possible way.”
“We are gathering the swabs, but the testing was being done off-site,” he said. “Two weeks ago, we gained the ability to do the testing in-house.”
He said when the hospital sent the swabs to an outside lab, the turnaround time was four to seven days. Now, in-house testing enables that turnaround time to be “within the day, usually within four to five hours.”
“The consensus is that we anticipate in western Pennsylvania that we have not seen the apex,” Davis said. “Generally speaking, we see that happening over the next two to three weeks.
“It remains critically important that we continue to adhere to the guidelines and slow the spread of the virus.”