{"id":14215,"date":"2020-11-04T00:59:56","date_gmt":"2020-11-04T07:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=14215"},"modified":"2020-11-04T00:59:56","modified_gmt":"2020-11-04T07:59:56","slug":"tilt-your-head-back-dont-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2020\/11\/04\/tilt-your-head-back-dont-move\/","title":{"rendered":"Tilt Your Head Back, Don\u2019t Move"},"content":{"rendered":"

Altruistic org, doc bring more COVID testing to Valley<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Eric Valentine<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Dr. Tom Archie uses a nasal swab COVID-19 test to check for coronavirus infection in a patient. Photo credit: Dr. Tom Archie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the heels of a St. Luke\u2019s announcement reminding Valley folks to not use the emergency room for COVID testing and in response to the lingering lack of available testing for people who may be asymptomatic, a recently formed community health group has stepped up to the plate. COVID Outreach Wood River\u2014a collaboration between St. Luke\u2019s Wood River Foundation and local physician Tom Archie\u2014has opened three COVID-19 nasal swab testing locations across the Valley and will provide mobile testing to businesses, schools and other organizations, too.<\/p>\n

And, it\u2019s free. Community generosity and clinical innovation, St. Luke\u2019s said, made it possible for the expansion of viral detection testing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are incredibly grateful for Dr. Archie\u2019s vision and the generosity of the community that has made this effort a reality,\u201d said Megan Dawson Edwards, president of the St. Luke\u2019s foundation. \u201cThis investment is one strategy to help suppress the pandemic in the Wood River Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project came together with the altruistic intentions of Dr. Archie who heard a news story about a similar effort in Philadelphia. Synergistically, passionate community philanthropists were seeking innovative ways to expand testing for the Wood River Valley. The goal of the project is to fill a COVID testing gap produced by the lack of available testing for asymptomatic people. By increasing testing availability, a greater number of people with new COVID-19 infections will be able to more quickly self-quarantine and thereby protect others, limiting further spread. In fact, results will be available within 24 to 36 hours, a far faster return time than just weeks ago.<\/p>\n

The project will prioritize those who have had a close-contact exposure to someone with COVID-19 or have an upcoming out-of-area medical procedure requiring testing. People who are symptomatic but have difficulty accessing testing will also be served. Meanwhile, symptomatic patients should continue to access testing through St. Luke\u2019s.<\/p>\n

To schedule testing, visit COVIDOutreachWoodRiver.com.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s more<\/b><\/p>\n

Efforts are under way to be fully inclusive and ensure broad Valley access to this testing outreach by addressing language, digital-access, and cultural barriers. Currently, this includes in the coming weeks the positioning of testing locations on bus lines and near bus stops, scheduling weekend testing on Saturdays in Bellevue (and Fridays in Hailey), planning to grow staffing so as to extend into a mobile format for businesses with many employees and outbreak concerns.<\/p>\n

Also, in the coming weeks, this effort will see the translation of the website and scheduling questionnaire into Spanish and the development of access to interpreter services. Online-only scheduling and communication can remain a barrier for some, though the website and scheduling system both function well on mobile devices.<\/p>\n

Job creator<\/b><\/p>\n

Amid the COVID pandemic, some Valley residents are also facing economic challenges and even devastation. While the new testing program can\u2019t entirely solve that dilemma, it is providing job opportunities for at least a few folks.<\/p>\n

The organization said it is in search of staffing for temporary employment in November and likely through the end of January, possibly longer. When testing is at full capacity, hours will be generally Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for 16 to 30 hours per week. Required background includes any of the following:<\/p>\n

\u25cf Emergency first responders<\/p>\n

\u25cf Certified nurses<\/p>\n

\u25cf Medical laboratory scientist\/technician<\/p>\n

\u25cf Spanish language interpretation services needed<\/p>\n

The job description includes collecting nasal swabs for tests, processing PCR or antigen tests for SARS-CoV-2 (rapid tests on-site), confirming patient registration information accuracy (EMR), storing lab results in an online electronic medical record (EMR), sending lab results and information to patients (portal access from EMR), and sending positive lab results to South Central Public Health District.<\/p>\n

Where are testing locations?<\/b><\/p>\n

\u25cf Temporary drive-up testing sites<\/p>\n

Ketchum: Lupine Building, 220 S. 2nd Ave., Suite 103<\/p>\n

Hailey: Blaine County School District Office, 118 W. Bullion St.<\/p>\n

Bellevue: South Central Public Health, 117 Ash St.<\/p>\n

When are testing locations open? <\/b><\/p>\n

\u25cf Monday \u2013 Saturday<\/p>\n

\u25cf Check the website for location details: COVIDoutreachWoodRiver.com<\/p>\n

To support this effort, please visit www.slwrf.org<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Altruistic org, doc bring more COVID testing to Valley By Eric Valentine On the heels of a St. Luke\u2019s announcement reminding Valley folks to not use the emergency room for COVID testing and in response to the lingering lack of available testing for people who may be asymptomatic, a recently formed community health group has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,18,36],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14215","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-covid-19","8":"category-news","9":"category-slider"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}