the necessary resources in place."
• Prioritizing screening. All patients scheduled for surgery at LSDC
must obtain negative COVID-19 test results within five days of their
scheduled procedures. Most of the center's patients originate from a
large clinic in town, so Ms. Williams asked referring physicians to
coordinate the testing for the patients they refer for surgery.
You know what they say about best laid plans.
"Testing has been hit or miss," says Ms. Williams. "We've waited up to
nine days for results. We thought securing testing in time would be an
easy process, and did not anticipate the delays we're seeing."
She thinks the clinic was unprepared for the overwhelming demand
for screening when the state began to reopen and the strain that put
on the local lab responsible for processing the tests. In hindsight, Ms.
Williams believes she could have communicated more clearly with the
clinic about their testing process.
LSDC now sends patients who don't have tests completed within 24
hours of their procedures to the local hospital, which can provide results
within five hours. "We're paying for the rapid turnaround, but we're
keeping cases on the schedule and the patients are getting their surger-
ies done," says Ms. Williams.
The facility's online registration portal now includes questions about
possible COVID-19 exposure and symptoms, which staff review dur-
ing the pre-screening process. On the day of surgery, patients are
screened at a makeshift station set outside the center's main doors.
They're asked to sign a COVID-19 form, on which they acknowledge
the procedure they are about to undergo is elective and they are
incurring some risk by entering the facility.
On the form, a staff member notes patients' responses to questions
about their possible exposure to COVID-19 and symptoms of the virus
they might be experiencing, including cough, shortness of breath and
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