Guthrie Improves Turnaround Time for COVID-19 Tests

Beginning July 1, 2021, Guthrie will no longer require patients who are fully vaccinated to complete pre-operation COVID-19 testing. Patients who are not vaccinated will still need to be tested for COVID prior to surgery, but can now expect quicker turnaround on those results.

Guthrie Laboratory Services is now testing all COVID-19 specimens in-house. Since these tests were previously sent to reference laboratories, this change will bring an improved turnaround time for patients to receive their results. The immediate benefit of faster test results is that patients can learn if current symptoms, risks, or contact with an infected person has led to an active COVID infection. Previously, Guthrie patients had to wait five or more days for COVID results; those same results are now available within 24-48 hours.

Cyera Mosier, Medical Laboratory Scientist, Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital said, “When patients have their sample collected, they are quarantined at home until those results come back. Now that patients can get their results faster, they are able to get back to their normal lives sooner.”

In addition, beginning July 1, Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital will no longer offer drive though COVID testing on the weekends. Instead, patients will be tested in the walk-in clinic.

Guthrie is a non-profit integrated health system located in north central Pennsylvania and upstate New York, serving patients from a twelve-county service area. Guthrie is comprised of four hospitals, including Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pa., with a campus in Towanda, Pa., Guthrie Corning Hospital in Corning, N.Y., Guthrie Troy Community Hospital in Troy, Pa., and Guthrie Cortland Medical Center in Cortland, N.Y., along with a research institute and home care/hospice. Guthrie’s multi-specialty group practice of more than 365 physicians and 300 advanced practice providers offers 47 specialties through a regional office network providing primary and specialty care in 22 communities in Pennsylvania and New York. In addition, Guthrie offers home medical equipment and respiratory therapy products at seven convenient Med Supply Depot locations and provides a wide range of services and programs to enhance the health and well-being of those it serves.