GREENSBORO, N.C. — The CEO of StarMed Healthcare said staffing issues and overall testing demand are leading to delays in COVID-19 test results at the Four Seasons Town Centre testing site in Greensboro.
CEO Dr. Michael Estramonte said the company went from doing 3,000 tests per week to 34,000 across the state.
“We did plan for it to be busier during the holidays and we staffed up,” said Dr. Estramonte. “In the last four months, we’ve hired around 800 people in anticipation that this might occur. What we couldn’t anticipate was it going up 10 times.”
Wait times for a test at the site ranged from two to four hours last week. On Thursday, December 30 the site shut down early to handle the influx of test seekers.
“We’re a healthcare organization, we’re not a traffic control organization so we’re doing everything we possibly can,” said Dr. Estramonte. “We do get some National Guard help here and there but they’re stretched thin also.”
Mary Eagle was tested on Thursday, December 30 and as of Wednesday, January 5 she has not received her results yet.
“It’s been very frustrating because I feel like I need to be quarantined for two weeks or so until I hear the results just to be safe because I don’t want to endanger anybody else,” Eagle said.
Krystal and Jesse Gregory were tested Friday and also have not heard their results.
“We are losing a lot of wages right now just sitting around the house,” said Jessie Gregory. “Both of us just really want to go back to work.”
The Gregory’s and Eagle both tried to call the StarMed number specifically for COVID-19 results, but the voicemail was full. Estramonte said half of their call center is out, and some working from home, due to COVID-19 cases. Not only is demand high, Estramonte added, but 3-5% of tests come back inconclusive and need to be rerun.
“It’s not even an error rate, it could be because during the nasal swab they didn’t get enough of the sample size, it could’ve been a reagent issue. There’s just always going to be that percentage no matter what,” Estramonte said.
Eagle has now made an appointment to be tested Saturday in Martinsville, an hour-long drive for her.
“It’s such an important issue. We are all told that it’s so important. The CDC makes it so important but then we try to do something about, it’s not reciprocated so I don’t know what to do,” Eagle said.
The Gregory’s say they are just waiting.
“My doctor’s office is still waiting for test results because she was going to treat me but she didn’t know how to treat me,” said Krystal Gregory. “So now I’m missing out on treatment. This is prolonging this illness and I don’t even know if I have COVID or not. It could be the flu but now it’s too late to be treated for the flu.”
Dr. Estramonte is asking for patience from people and respect for this staff working at the site.
“It’s gut-wrenching for the organization because a lot of these people who are waiting we know that some people are immunocompromise, some people might be undergoing cancer treatment,” Dr. Estramonte said. “So to make somebody wait because of an inconclusive result on a test, it wears on the staff because we don’t like making anybody have to wait.”
StarMed does have an email for test results and Estramonte said they are trying to respond as quickly as possible. If you are immunocompromised, he said to include that in the email so they may be able to help you faster.