Holiday visitors – Looking for a Covid test?
Honesdale. Wayne Memorial Hospital has been fielding requests from college students who were not able to get tested on their campuses.
Due to an increased demand for COVID testing, especially in light of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, Wayne Memorial Hospital’s Laboratory Services is reminding patients that a prescription is still needed for COVID-19 testing. No appointment is required, but a prescription from a provider must still be presented in person or faxed to the hospital’s primary testing site, the drive-through at the former Wayne Health Pharmacy at the Stourbridge Complex, Route 6 and Maple Avenue, Honesdale. It is open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“The hospital continues to provide the gold standard of tests for COVID-19, the PCR test—polymerase chain reaction — which is 99% effective,” said Sibyl Rickard, MD, medical director of WMH Clinical and Anatomical Laboratory Services. . Rickard said patients should be aware that the turnaround time for results for this test is at least four days.
Unless there is an urgent medical reason for immediate processing, Wayne Memorial sends the PCR tests to LabCorps for analysis.
Wayne Memorial Hospital processed 849 tests during the week of Nov. 8, a new weekly record, according to James Hockenbury, director Ancillary Services. “We are recording almost double what we had been,” he said, “which correlates to spikes being seen around the country and in our surrounding area.”
Many colleges and universities are either recommending or mandating exit testing for students who are leaving campus; many schools are also moving into virtual learning after Thanksgiving.
“We have been fielding requests from college students who were not able to get tested on their campuses,” said Hockenbury, “and we stand ready to accommodate them if they have a prescription.”
Hockenbury added that most insurances, Medicare and public assistance will pay for a prescribed COVID-19 test if it fits within the diagnostic criteria – the patient is experiencing symptoms or has a recent history of exposure to someone with COVID-19 or in an area known to have a high COVID rate. Individuals without insurance may be billed. At Wayne Memorial, the basic COVID-19 test costs $128.
The fax number for the testing site is 570-253-8209.