Uncategorized

Salem Health resumes COVID-19 testing after running low on supplies

Guidelines for patients with respiratory illness posted on the back door of Salem Health’s clinic on River Road South on March 16, 2020 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)

NOTE: Salem Reporter is providing free access to its content related to the coronavirus as a community service. Subscriptions help support this.

Salem Health has resumed testing people with symptoms of respiratory illness for COVID-19 at three Salem-area clinics after a supply shortage forced the area’s largest health provider to temporarily stop.

On Tuesday, Salem Health re-started testing at a south Salem clinic on River Road and its clinics in Dallas and Woodburn.

Providers tested 271 people at those three clinics between March 16, when testing began, and March 25, when Salem Health stopped because of a lack of testing kits and protective equipment for staff, spokesman Elijah Penner said.

Penner said Salem Health now has “a few hundred kits” available which they expect may last a few weeks based on the previous testing rate.

Testing in Oregon has been more limited than in other states, making it difficult for public health officials and the public to get a clear picture of who has the virus and how rapidly it’s spreading. The number of tests for COVID-19 has increased as more private labs come online.

As of Wednesday morning, about 1,500 people in Marion County had been tested either at the state lab or through a private clinic since late February, according to state data. That’s less than one half of one percent of all residents, about the same rate of testing as in Multnomah County.

Statewide, about 15,000 Oregonians have been tested for COVID-19.

People with symptoms of the illness, including a cough, fever, and shortness of breath, who don’t need emergency care, can call Salem Health at (503) 814-0099 to speak to a healthcare provider, who will decide whether they meet testing criteria. Patients don’t need to have an existing Salem Health doctor to call.

Santiam Hospital is also testing patients in an outpatient respiratory illness clinic they’ve set up for people who are sick, but don’t need emergency care, said Dr. Janine VanSant, a Santiam infectious disease specialist, in a Facebook Live presentation Monday.

“It is still somewhat limited and it is only symptoms-based at this time and it should be more widely available in the next couple weeks,” VanSant said.

Kaiser Permanente is also testing some patients by appointment at its North Lancaster clinic.

Contact reporter Rachel Alexander at [email protected] or 503-575-1241.

Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.