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The county community testing site closed at the end of the summer and now Ascension Seton Highland Lakes and several of its rural health clinics have the equipment to conduct rapid PCR tests in a safe environment. “It also allowed us to get a better idea of the prevalence of the disease in our community.” “The county community testing site was truly a game-changer since it allowed for local testing and more rapid results so that we care for our community at the community level,” said Ascension Seton Highland Lakes Administrator/Chief Nursing Office, Karen Litterer, MSN, RN, NEA-BC. The county community testing site stayed open throughout the summer of 2020 playing an important role during the August surge of cases in the region. Patients who were referred to the community testing site received regular follow-up calls from nursing staff to check on their status. The site offered polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing to community members with results back in 24-36 hours, considerably faster than the 72 hours that was common in the early days of the pandemic.Īlthough Ascension Seton Highland Lakes had the capacity to test patients that required hospitalization, it referred patients healthy enough to be safely discharged from the ED to the community testing site, along with clinic patients and others who required testing close to home. The testing site was open two days a week and staffed by a physician and staff members from Burnet EMS and the rural health clinics. To better serve the local community, which includes a large elderly population, Ascension Seton Highland Lakes partnered with Burnet City and County officials in April 2020 to develop a COVID-19 community testing site at the county fairgrounds. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the availability of testing was limited, especially in rural areas. The hospital also has a network of outpatient clinics provided through several rural health clinics. Despite its small size, the rural hospital has a busy emergency department and functions as a Level IV trauma center with an intensive care unit. Ascension Seton Highland Lakes is an acute care hospital located in the beautiful Hill Country.