Health Team

Fayetteville testing site closes down due to shortage of test kits

Cape Fear Valley Health System in Fayetteville has shut down a major COVID-19 test site because of a lack of testing supplies.

Posted Updated

By
Gilbert Baez
, WRAL Fayetteville reporter
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Cape Fear Valley Health System in Fayetteville has shut down a major COVID-19 test site because of a lack of testing supplies.

Demand for COVID testing at Cape Fear Valley Pavilion North had been booming since the hospital began testing at this location in October. But the demand was so great it canceled all other out-patient clinics to focus on testing.

Now, the three companies that supply the hospital with test kits are only able to produce half of what they used to.

"If they can only produce at 50% of their capacity, you're only going to get 50% of your allocation," said Chris Tart, president of Highsmith-Rainey Specialty Hospital. "That's kind of where we are right now. We're getting smaller and smaller numbers."

The testing site at Cape Fear Valley Pavilion North was testing anywhere from 200 to 300 people a day. But Tart said the test kit shortage means the hospital system has to prioritize how they're used.

"We have to still continue testing our admitted patients who are symptomatic, so we can put them on the right floors, get them the right treatments and know if they are COVID-19 positive or not," Tart said.

Testing is still available by appointment in Cumberland County at places like CVS and Walgreens. And the Cumberland County Health Department continues to test in the parking lot of its facility on Ramsey Street, although the county's health director said they're also seeing a shortage in testing kits.

"We are experiencing the same supply chain issues that others are," said Jennifer Green, director of the Cumberland County Health Department. "Our state vendors are able to get test kits. Our in-house test kits, we are on back order and we are on limited supply."

Rural North Carolina has been struggling to get COVID-19 tests since the beginning of the pandemic.

“There have been supply chain challenges in aspects of the testing supplies," said Dr. Scott Shone, director at the state lab for the Department of Health and Human Services.

He said there’s an abundance of swabs and vials, but professional rapid test kits used by many local health departments are in shorter supply.

"There’s nothing sitting in the warehouse. As soon as they come in, the warehouse staff immediately packages them and redistributes them based on the requests we have gotten from across the state," he said.

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