DCH Regional Medical Center collects samples for Covid-19 Testing

DCH Regional Medical Center opened a remote coronavirus testing facility on Monday morning. The facility moves people through a drive-through sample collection station where nurses and other health care workers will collect saliva samples that will be sent to a lab for testing.

"The first thing they are doing is asking some screening questions. They are asking if they have flulike symptoms including fever, headache, and things like that," said Andy North, vice president of marketing and communications for DCH Regional Medical Center.

"Also they are asking if they have traveled to areas that are highly affected. The bigger issue is, have they been in contact with individuals who have a confirmed case of coronavirus. Once that is done, if they pass those initial steps of the screening, they will move on to take a specimen or answer any questions they have and then send them on the way."

The screening facility is in the large parking area just west of Dr. Edward Hillard Drive near the DCH laundry facility. Services will be available from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. every day until demand diminishes.

North said the collections are being conducted by nurses, but the hospital also has doctors on hand for consultations or to answer questions from patients. Other hospital support staff are also involved to help with clerical efforts to ensure the samples are processed properly.

The sample collection is currently being done by having the person spit into a cup that is sealed up and returned to the health-care worker. At some point, they will also have cheek swabs available. The samples are being forward to the Alabama Department of Public Health for the testing.

North said Monday that he suspected there were probably quite a few healthy people in line for testing, but he advised that people should not be tested until they exhibit flulike symptoms.

"Really, what we are asking is if you have some of the symptoms, that’s when you should come out," North said. "We are going to man this for as long as there is a need, so we are going to be out here from 8-5 every day for as long as we can get the people together and have the materials to collect samples. Don’t worry about rushing out here today if you don’t have symptoms."

There are five collection stations running at the facility located in the large laundry parking lot across from Tuscaloosa Fire Station 2 on Paul W. Bryant Drive.

"We are hoping to be able to see a little over a thousand people in an 8-10 hour shift," North said.

One line comes into the parking lot and is divided into five separate testing stations to help move people through the collection process as rapidly as possible.