The Packard Health COVID-19 Testing Site
July 22, 2020
Packard Health's COVID-19 testing site at the Perry Early Learning Center in Ypsilanti has seen a dramatic increase in drive-in testing traffic this last month as COVID-19 cases have spiked across the country.
With high testing demand, testing sites are left at the mercy of the processing labs which are overwhelmed. Test result turnaround times in Washtenaw County have increased, in many cases up to more than 14 days or more. Contributing to the problem is the fact that COVID-19 is still so new. Many testing machines are in the process of being built, tested, and calibrated. Only then can testing capacity increase.
Packard Health Director of Nursing and COVID-19 Response Coordinator, Oryanna Diem, BSN, RN, has been doing a phenomenal job protecting the health and wellbeing of our staff and managing the continuously evolving daily constraints.
Our testing team has been braving the elements while in their personal protective equipment (not all gear is shown in the photo), limiting hours available for tests in order to avoid the hottest hours of the day.
The rented tents at the site were recently upgraded with the construction of 'Fort Packard,' a solid enclosure with an awning, locks to securely store supplies, and air conditioning (almost up and running). Packard Health Facility Manager Chris Ozminski tackled the build, going above and beyond to get the new structure to the team as quickly as possible.
