New COVID-19 lab promises 24-hour results, includes mobile unit for WNC underserved residents

Derek Lacey
Asheville Citizen Times
Sanesco International and Dogwood Health Trust unveiled a new testing laboratory Dec. 10 at Sanesco's Arden headquarters, dedicated to processing COVID-19 tests from Western North Carolina and serving rural and underserved communities.

A new laboratory unveiled Dec. 10 in Arden is promising faster turnaround times for Western North Carolina's COVID-19 tests and dedicating 10% of its capacity to free tests for rural and underserved communities.

Sanesco International and Dogwood Health Trust unveiled the new CommunityLab at Sanesco's headquarters on Trident Drive, the result of their partnership and a $3.5 million loan that Dogwood helped facilitate for the company. 

The diagnostic lab will receive tests from around Western North Carolina to support the COVID-19 demand in the region, according to an announcement. 

CommunityLab will also operate a mobile testing unit that will provide testing and same-day results open to anyone, regardless of symptoms. 

"We're going to allocate all of our resources to covering the Western North Carolina region first and foremost," said Hector Romero, chairman and CEO of Sanesco.

Added capacity will be an important issue going forward, according to Sanesco Chief Science Officer Jeff Schmitt.

"There is currently a capacity issue that may only get worse in the coming weeks," he said. "We have at this point no way to anticipate that, but we have done everything we can to be scalable and be responsive in case the need escalates."

Workers process laboratory tests unrelated to COVID-19 at Sanesco International's Arden headquarters Dec. 10, as the company and Dogwood Health Trust announced a new COVID-19 testing laboratory dedicated to Western North Carolina.

George Renfro, with Dogwood Health Trust, said so far the area's been fortunate, but dedicating testing capacity like this is a priority to keep it that way. 

"COVID has not really hit us hard like it has some other areas," he said. "And there's nothing that really says only large cities can have large outbreaks. There are other areas the size of Asheville that have had tremendous problems."

The goal was bringing testing availability to the region, Renfro said, noting test turnaround times early in the pandemic of more than two weeks.

The lab area at Sanesco, now filled by an enclosed structure with several separate rooms for processing tests, was an empty warehouse filled with shelves just 90 days ago, Romero said. 

Sanesco already conducts high-complexity clinical laboratory testing at its Arden headquarters unrelated to COVID-19, and purchased the location with the intent to grow into the unused space at the back of the building that now houses the COVID-19 testing laboratory, he said. 

The tests themselves won't travel through the building to get to the lab but come in a side door and go through an airlocked clean access point into the processing area, Schmitt said.

"We want to provide the most accurate and rapid testing possible, which means that we have to take every precaution possible in isolating every step of the testing technology and operations to minimize potential cross contamination," he said. "We'll be dealing with lots of samples, some positive, some negative."

Only test samples, not people, will move between rooms in the lab, he said, calling the safety measures "above and beyond" what other labs do. 

CommunityLab will be receiving samples from public and private partners across the region, Schmitt said, and will be able to analyze antigen testing, antibody testing and real-time PCR genetic testing.

Those tests will come from a number of partners in the region that's growing by the day, he said, from private and public organizations from doctors' offices to rural health organizations.

The new laboratory will be able to turn tests around in 24 hours, Romero said, meaning someone who takes a test at a hospital, urgent care or other testing site in the region one day will get their result the next day. 

Different types of COVID-19 tests take longer to process, Schmitt said, from a few hours to around 20 hours. 

According to the state Department of Health and Human Services, results currently take an average of three days, statewide.

Initial plans have one shift of workers processing tests, but if the need rises to the point where three shifts of employees need to work around the clock seven days a week, CommunityLab is prepared, Schmitt said. 

The partnership is expected to add 25 employees to Sanesco's current workforce of about 40 over the next year to two years, Romero said. 

"The lab is being set up to respond to high, high demands," he said. "Very high demands."

CommunityLab will also be providing saliva-based SalivaDirect tests through a partnership with the Yale School of Public Health, a "simpler, less expensive and less invasive," test than the traditional nose-swab tests, according to a press release. 

"This is a big boon for us as well as Western North Carolina," Schmitt said, adding that the "incredibly accurate" tests can be self-administered rather than having to be administered by a healthcare professional.

Romero said it's a great option for schools and universities, "a great option for kids."

The lab's mobile testing unit will provide results in just a few hours as it visits various places in the community, using tests that only require a laptop and a piece of equipment about the size of a toaster, Schmitt said. 

The mobile unit deployed for the first time to a homeless shelter in Asheville Dec. 9, he said.

Romero noted that CommunityLab will depend on guidance from local officials on where to deploy that mobile testing unit going forward.

“It’s very important to us that we have testing availability for those who could not afford to pay,” said Renfro. "So we arrived at a number of 10%” of tests that will be completed at no cost."

Those efforts include reaching out to the Spanish-speaking community, Romero said.