Lincoln's Bryan Medical Center Prepares for "Drive-Through" COVID-19 Tests

A Nebraska hospital hopes to soon have ‘drive-through’ testing for coronavirus soon. There’s one hitch in the unique approach: the national shortage of test kits.

The hope is to make the testing process convenient for the public and safer for the health care providers. Those needing a test would pull up to the Bryan Hospital campus in south Lincoln, answer screening questions to determine if testing is worthwhile, and get swabbed. Dr. John Trapp is a pulmonologist.

“So by doing it in a controlled area, we can have certain individuals who are done this equipment can do that. For you individually, if you're high risk, test you and get that result back to you,” Trapp said.

The novel approach would help keep potential virus-carriers at a safe distance from other patients and allow nurses and others to make the best use of protective gear.

“We are anticipating this will go on for weeks or longer. We certainly don’t want to go through our personal protective equipment rapidly because we’re going to need that down the road as well,” Trapp said.

Bryan would like to get drive-through testing started as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the nationwide shortage of test kits will keep the plan on hold. John Woodrich is CEO of Bryan Medical Center.

“We're trying to get additional test kits, we have a limited supply in the state. And as we continue to receive those, we want to make sure we're very prudent and that we use those accordingly as we prepare for if this outbreak continues to grow,” Woodrich said.

Meanwhile, Bryan and other hospitals across Nebraska are discouraging friends and even family members from visiting those in the hospital to assure patients and medical professionals are not exposed to the COVID-19 virus.