GREAT FALLS, MONTANA – The University of Providence, Alluvion Health, and Adlera Laboratory have recently partnered to create a mission-driven response to the increased need for rapid, reliable COVID-19 testing. This proactive and collaborative effort will support the real-time needs of the university, as it plans on reopening for the spring semester, as well as the community at large. Effectively mitigating against spread of the virus is a goal of both organizations and investing in this equipment to assist in frequent testing will help accomplish that.
Adlera Lab, a CLIA certified high-complexity diagnostic lab owned and operated by Alluvion Health, will utilize a qPCR machine, to process 344 saliva samples per day for the detection of COVID-19. Not only is this process less intrusive, the utilization of saliva tests, as opposed to respiratory swabs, allow trained University personnel to collect samples on-site. This process allows Alluvion Health staff to continue providing community testing to the residents.
“Since the laboratory capacity is a critical limiting factor to testing, an additional RT-qPCR instrument could easily double the lab’s output leading to a quicker test to result time,” said S. Diane Lund, Ph.D., and Faculty Program Lead for Masters of Science Infection Prevention & Epidemiology. “Those who are infected do not typically show symptoms until day 5, so if testing happens before symptoms appear and we get a quick result, we might be able to isolate individuals before they infect too many people.”
Compassion and charism are at the heart of both organizations. Alluvion Health believes in creating and inspiring individuals to live healthier lives. It partnered with other community partners in the creation of a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) tool to understand the needs of the community it supports. CHNA has allowed these partners to garner public perception through survey results and create action plans around those results. Similarly, by partnering with the University of Providence, Adlera Lab, and Alluvion Health is able to respond to community needs and amplify its testing efforts.
“The partnership with University of Providence underscores the shared passion Adlera Lab, Alluvion Health, and The University of Providence have for our community. The ability to increase testing capability and decrease turnaround times is so impactful on individual patients and their confidence in our community’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Trista Besich, CEO of Alluvion Health and Adlera Lab. “Our ability to provide those services locally creates tremendous opportunity to adapt our response to local needs, while still supporting the statewide demand for testing capacity and decreased turnaround. We know waiting for answers can be stressful and overwhelming, this partnership will be tremendously impactful and the benefits will be immediately noticeable. We appreciate that the University of Providence recognized a shared mission and vision in our agency and looked to us to create such an inspiring opportunity.”
Father Oliver, President of the University of Providence, also speaks of the partnership saying, “Our foundresses, the Sisters of Providence, have always shown a commitment to serving the local community in times of need. We continue that tradition with our partnership with Alluvion to respond during this pandemic.”
Today’s announcement of the partnership builds upon the University of Providence’s, Adlera Lab’s, and Alluvion Health’s aim to provide affordable, reliable healthcare solutions to all community members, but especially to those that need it most.
