Anyone live in an area with modified hospitals & labs?

I get that where they process the samples should be closed to contamination, a clean room is a clean room but I am talking about where they collect the samples, these are two different things.

Humans are closed systems, the blood sample is collected through puncturing a sanitized surface (alcohol swabbed skin) and drawing the sample into the closed system of the needle/vial etc so it never has a chance to be contaminated. Being outside for collection doesn't seem to change the basics of the collection side, and works for Flu vaccines (getting a shot) so it can't be that different to draw it, so there must be a measure of safety in the procedure. I'm not saying the processing labs should be move outside, those labs are totally different.

I guess the hospitals will either figure out how to bend and learn how to pivot to accommodate what their customers want or continue to deal with people like me staying away, just being honest.
I'd recommend looking into a VIP practice or concierge practice. It would take way more money to do these changes then practices have those you pay the money to make it more convenient
 
I get that where they process the samples should be closed to contamination, a clean room is a clean room but I am talking about where they collect the samples, these are two different things.

Humans are closed systems, the blood sample is collected through puncturing a sanitized surface (alcohol swabbed skin) and drawing the sample into the closed system of the needle/vial etc so it never has a chance to be contaminated. Being outside for collection doesn't seem to change the basics of the collection side, and works for Flu vaccines (getting a shot) so it can't be that different to draw it, so there must be a measure of safety in the procedure. I'm not saying the processing labs should be move outside, those labs are totally different.

I guess the hospitals will either figure out how to bend and learn how to pivot to accommodate what their customers want or continue to deal with people like me staying away, just being honest.
That last bit. Hospitals and medical facilities are using science to make calls. No, they can not avoid any exposure to any illness or they will see very few people a day. There is already a shortage of providers. They also have to pay their staff, and malpractice, and overhead among many other things. You of course can choose to delay care but the vast majority of medical facilities really are trying to help as many people in as healthy a way as they can. Many are also burning out and I can tell you that being accused of unbending and as if we are intending you harm really doesn't help. I'm sure there are bad apples as there are in many fields but we are trying our best, making a lot of sacrifices, risking ourselves. What you are suggesting is not practical or even safe in the vast majority of places.
 
I have asked and back in the Spring something was in the works but I guess they are trying to force things back to normal. I was just curious if other regions have this or not, I'm not really looking to debate the validity of it as a thing and most people are responding to the idea of it not whether or not it exists near them.

Reason I am asking is that I am OK to travel to one if I can find it, my insurance doesn't care where I go.
I bet that the reason they said it was in the works and no longer are is they learned it wasn't possible. At the beginning many offices explored many ideas. Most turned out not possible in application. I can assure you that behind the seems it is not back to normal. There have been many cleaning, policy, and other changes to minimize infection spread that are now permanent. I really don't think you will find what you are looking for unless you are willing to pay additional fees so the funding is there to do it.
 
I understand why some might not want it and would opt out, no reason for it to be forced on people, but why would that be a reason to not have any version of drive up or outdoor labs at all for other people who won't go otherwise? I'm sure hospitals see losses by now and just standing firm isn't going to work, not for me anyway. Humans can either walk into grocery stores or do pickup and people seem to be able to work that out, they do this for Flu shots too so it's not unheard of, at least where we live. I don't really care about being uncomfortable but suspect how they do it up in Ma where they put a little needle with a tube in and then just swap the different collection vials causes no discomfort to me at all. If any one of the local hospitals does something outside or from my car at least I'd show up, as it is they are losing business that I would think they want and I'm sure the towns want the revenue. It would probably be a game changer for any local struggling facility.

The contamination issue doesn't really land for me. If many people indoors is bad then why is this different? My car and outside are definitely safer than any enclosed space shared with who knows who having who knows what & no way is some poor overworked lab tech cleaning the waiting room, pens and doors in between patients like WDW is doing. Throw in elevators etc at a facility and hospital acquired infections esp MRSA and the needle seems buried on the other side.

As for the tents, my region has already hospital tents they roll out for Flu season they bought after getting slammed during H1N1`. Plus, nearly every office I've ever seen has little boxes that safely store samples for when the lab driver swings by for pickup so it's probably more about moving the pieces on the game board and being adaptive.

Just weird that the medical world, upon which we are so reliant for defending us against illnesses which seem extraordinarily quick on their feet, is so slow to react, resistant to change and steeped in tradition, quite a mismatch.
No, your car is NOT safer. Nor is the outdoors. Sticking your shoulder with the flu shot is one thing.., extracting bodily fluids is another. Each lab test has protocols that cannot be safely maintained in a setting such as you describ.

you are asking for unreasonable accommodations.
 
I have asked and back in the Spring something was in the works but I guess they are trying to force things back to normal. I was just curious if other regions have this or not, I'm not really looking to debate the validity of it as a thing and most people are responding to the idea of it not whether or not it exists near them.

Reason I am asking is that I am OK to travel to one if I can find it, my insurance doesn't care where I go.

I totally get not wanting to go inside a medical center. The Kaiser HMO facilities I use for my healthcare are big and multilevel. I've been in there a couple of times and really not happy with the social distancing and seeing people crowd into the elevators (I can't do the stairs). One center has their lab in the basement and it's always so crowded. I get the jeebies just thinking about it lol! I feel safer at Target honestly than some of these facilities. I think they're trying to be safe and perhaps it is safe enough...but I'm not comfortable. There is one near me though that the lab is very easy and never busy - first floor so no elevator - and I go there if I need labs.

I'll add that I didn't actually have lab work done outside. My son had an exposure to someone with covid-19 so we had to do the drive-thru testing at a Kaiser and I noticed they had another tent set up away from the covid area that said "LAB Work" or something similar. (He tested negative btw) I just assumed it was some way for people who needed to visit the lab to do so without going in. It was clearly marked for cars to line up if needed (just like the covid testing) and wasn't just a place for some truck to pick up lab samples so I dunno!

I hope you can find some way to get care without being around so many others.
 
If you have that then maybe it is around me somewhere and I just need to keep looking, thanks for responding :)
 
The labs near us have set aside the first hour of each day for high-risk patients. They also take appointments. There has not been more than one or two other patients in the facility when I have gone.

Doctors offer telehealth appointments, but I have gone in person so I could get certain tests done. There is a lot of social distancing, everyone wears a mask, and I have not felt unsafe. I would feel much more unsafe if I did not keep up with my medical care schedule.
 


We're in TX. My daughter had labs drawn in our car 3 weeks ago (my kids' endocrinologist's office has "drive through" labs. Really, they make appointments, pts call when they arrive, and a nurse comes out with all the supplies).
 
Just saw this today, the facilities have an obligation to figure out safe logistics, maybe not in a car but they need to prevent cross infection in whatever form it takes:

https://www.modernhealthcare.com/sa...l-separate-covid-patients-putting-others-risk

I thought we were talking about lab work here, not hospital admissions and nursing homes? There's a huge difference between getting your bloodwork done safely and how to care for actual COVID patients in an inpatient setting.
 
I thought we were talking about lab work here, not hospital admissions and nursing homes? There's a huge difference between getting your bloodwork done safely and how to care for actual COVID patients in an inpatient setting.
If a person is going to a hospital facility to be tested then there is overlap, I have historically had all testing at fully functioning hospitals, although need to find alternatives now. The germs don't know to avoid outpatients because they aren't admitted, they just go to a host. So if I am at a facility that hosts inpatients and does outpatient testing then I am still in a building that is crawling with germs. Same has been true of MRSA for a long time but that can be controlled somewhat because it's not out and about in the air in the same volatile way.
 
My lab is requiring everyone to have appointments. I filled out paperwork online. When I went for the appointment, I texted that I was there and got a text when it was time for me to come in. I ended up having to sign something for the financial piece (pens marked clean and dirty so they were cleaning pens in between patients), otherwise I would have been taken straight into the room. Only person I really had contact with was the phlebotomist doing the blood draw. I had less contact with her than I do people at the grocery store.

My Dad (very high risk due to age and pneumonia history) was very sick about 2 months ago. We took him to urgent care who came out to the car to see him. Not sure if they were set up to do bloodwork, but he was going to be getting a Covid test. His fever was so high though that we were told to head immediately to the ER instead where we had to leave him at the door. Since he had a high fever, they did triage on him outside and then he was taken in via a side door (not the main ER door). He was tested for Covid and was negative, but did have a UTI causing the high fever.
 
My lab is requiring everyone to have appointments. I filled out paperwork online. When I went for the appointment, I texted that I was there and got a text when it was time for me to come in. I ended up having to sign something for the financial piece (pens marked clean and dirty so they were cleaning pens in between patients), otherwise I would have been taken straight into the room. Only person I really had contact with was the phlebotomist doing the blood draw. I had less contact with her than I do people at the grocery store.

My Dad (very high risk due to age and pneumonia history) was very sick about 2 months ago. We took him to urgent care who came out to the car to see him. Not sure if they were set up to do bloodwork, but he was going to be getting a Covid test. His fever was so high though that we were told to head immediately to the ER instead where we had to leave him at the door. Since he had a high fever, they did triage on him outside and then he was taken in via a side door (not the main ER door). He was tested for Covid and was negative, but did have a UTI causing the high fever.
That's reassuring to some degree. Glad your dad is doing ok, it must have been a very scary experience.
 
If you have that then maybe it is around me somewhere and I just need to keep looking, thanks for responding :)
Which area are you trying to find services in? In Orlando, a company called Convelabs will come to your home to do lab tests. I've never used them, but they've been on the news locally.
 

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