LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — Testing for COVID-19 has ramped up in Lancaster County. Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health has launched drive-through testing sites at the Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences. The hospital is currently caring for one person who tested positive for the coronavirus.
Penn Medicine staff screened dozens of patients within its first 12 hours. This is the second outdoor COVID-19 testing site in Lancaster County. On March 13th, WellSpan Health set up testing locations at all of its acute care hospitals. Dr. Mark Goedecker, Regional Medical Director at WellSpan Health, told FOX43 another location will go live at the Expo Center in York on Friday, March 20.
“It offers us a much larger facility and allows us to get a lot more patients tested,” explained Dr. Goedecker. “It’s also centrally located.”
There are some concerns that medical supplies are running low. Nurses and doctors are rationing protective gear as they fight the spread of the virus on the front lines.
“That’s a huge concern. Yes, we are absolutely trying to [conserve]. We want to protect our patients and our healthcare workers so we want to use the protective gear when it is necessary,” said Dr. Goedecker. “We are looking at that very closely and trying to give very good recommendations based on what the Centers for Disease Control have recommended with that.”
Hospitals across the state are preparing for a surge in coronavirus cases. The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) advocates for nearly 240 Pennsylvania acute and specialty care, primary care, subacute care, long-term care, home health, and hospice providers, as well as the patients and communities they serve. Members of the association are calling for expanded testing and additional resources to help medical staff navigate this uncharted territory.
“We have our pandemic plans. We have our surge planning, and as we watched the disease from its counties of origin spread to other counties and the into United States, we are consistently adapting and modifying those plans as we move forward,” explained Mark Ross, Vice President of Emergency Management with HAP.
If you do not have a primary care doctor and are feeling the symptoms of COVID-19, contact Lancaster General Health or WellSpan Health about testing.