POTERVILLE, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) — Sierra View District Hospital in Porterville along with other hospitals in California have been selected by the California Department of Public Health to receive rapid COVID-19 testing.
“Lab testing capability continues to be a key focus in this pandemic,” states Karen Elliott, Director, Tulare County Public Health Branch. “The addition of this instrument to Sierra View increases the ability to test locally in all three Tulare County hospitals, along with the public health lab.”
Officials say Sierra View Medical Center has a limited supply of testing product at this time and will reserve the rapid coronavirus testing for suspected COVID-19 emergency department patients, inpatients, and symptomatic health care workers. They will also select a few others, including nursing home residents and nursing home health care providers.
“We are testing an average of 15 people per day,” said Gary Wareham, Lab Director for Sierra View Medical Center. “We will be happy to see that number increase as supplies become more readily available.
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