JACKSON, Wyo. — A new testing tent in front of St. John’s Health’s Emergency Department is expected to be operational by Monday afternoon.
The tent is meant for testing for COVID-19. It should not change the protocol St. John’s already has in place — anyone who feels sick with flu-like symptoms should still call the St. John’s call line at 739-4898, option 3, for a phone evaluation. Patients will then get a telehealth visit if it is determined they need further screening. If the physician determines the patient meets the criteria for testing, they will then order testing. Specimens are collected and sent to a laboratory.
St. John’s is still prioritizing tests based on CDC’s stringent guidelines, which prioritize hospitalized patients with COVID-19 symptoms, symptomatic individuals who are already more at risk (elderly and immunocompromised, healthcare workers, and people who have had contact with a confirmed patient or who have recently traveled to an affected area.
Currently, St. John’s is still sending swabs to other laboratories — primarily the Wyoming Department of Health’s lab — to be tested for COVID-19. Turnaround time is currently 4-7 days.
But the hospital has a machine that tests for 27 other viruses that cause many of the same symptoms. Anyone who is tested for COVID-19 will first be tested for those 27 other viruses to rule out other infections. That machine has a two-hour turnaround time.
St. John’s expects to have its own COVID test within two weeks that will produce results in two hours. “There’s some light at the end of the tunnel,” said St. John’s CEO Paul Beaupré at a community update Friday.
If Teton County becomes overwhelmed by COVID-19 and more beds become necessary, the tent can convert into a 14-bed ICU.
There are currently two confirmed cases in Teton County, 26 in the state.
