Navigating the SARS-2 Pandemic at Riverview Health

Over the past decade, the availability and feasibility for clinical laboratories of all sizes to implement molecular platforms has grown exponentially.  No longer does a laboratory need to be a large research or teaching facility to be able to perform all manner of detection of various molecular targets.

This presentation will show how a small, county hospital laboratory has been able to expand its molecular capabilities and rethink the use of multiple platforms for redundancy and rapid testing modifications based on experiences and challenges presented by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Microbiology/Molecular section of the Riverview Heath Laboratory supports testing for a 156- county hospital, a 16-bed critical access hospital, three ER/Urgent care centers, two dozen physician practices, 14 long term care facilities, and two non-affiliated client hospital.

Prior to the Pandemic, Riverview Health was utilizing four different molecular platforms for a variety of testing.  Influenza A&B and RSV detection were the only assays that could be performed on more than one platform.  During the Pandemic, Riverview added two ARIES® instruments, two MAGPIX® instruments (including extraction and thermocycling instrumentation) and five rapid antigen instruments. COVID testing was also brought on to one existing platform and evaluated on two other existing platforms.

Discussion topics for this presentation will include factors that drove a major change in testing philosophy, challenges with implementing these new platforms, positive outcomes from expanding capabilities, and future planning for utilization of multiple platforms for testing.

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn from Riverview’s approach for adapting to the pandemic and their testing needs.

2. Learn to evaluate the capabilities of your lab, instruments, and storage capacity.

3. Learn how to develop or update a lab-specific Pandemic Preparedness Plan.