Kathleen Hilliard

Patients at select Fast Pace Health clinics are now able to get rapid COVID-19 tests that process test results within 10 to 15 minutes. These tests, the Abbott’s ID NOW COVID-19 rapid molecular point-of-care tests, allow clinicians at Fast Pace Health to deliver test results within a single patient visit.

This will allow for quicker and more effective safety measures to be taken by those infected with the virus, hopefully preventing more wide-spread cases.

“It’s very, very accurate,” said Dr. Paul Southall, MD, the chief medical officer at Fast Pace Health. “It gives you the result right now, so that you don’t have to wait. Let’s say you’re going to work or travelling to visit your mother, those sorts of things. You’d know right away whether that test was negative or positive.”

These new rapid tests are available at two Fast Pace Health locations in Southwest Louisiana — 1429 Beglis Parkway in Sulphur and  2640 Country Club Road in Lake Charles.

COVID-19 tests will be given to patients who meet symptom or risk criteria consistent with CDC guidelines.

Southall said the amount of tests are limited, and test supplies come only once a week. The rapid tests are given to those with the highest risk first, such as those who have had a risk of exposure within the family or workplace.

“We should be getting more of it and it should be more available,” Southall said. “Hopefully that number and supply will improve and we’ll be able to offer that to all of our clinics, which would be a real innovation in testing so we’ll be able to offer rapid testing to everyone who comes to our clinics.”

Unlike the current COVID-19 tests, these require less than an inch of insertion into the nose but are still accurate.

Southall said with more testing comes clearer clarification about the length of quarantine and how infectious people are.

“It means the world of difference to us and to our patients, to give them quality care and to be able to make decisions about their care right away so we don’t have to wait two or three days to make the determination about whether they’re infectious,” Southall said.

“Combining Abbott’s ID NOW COVID-19 rapid test with the convenience and safety of our current testing methods brings the latest and most efficient testing solutions to our rural markets,” said Greg Steil, CEO of Fast Pace Health. “We are proud of our frontline workers and look forward to helping them improve the health of the communities they serve.”

Fast Pace Health is a rapidly expanding, multi-clinic site urgent care, focusing on primary care among other levels of service in mainly rural areas. The company has approximately 130 locations across the five states of La., Ky., Tenn., Miss., and Ind.COVID testing

Associated Press