Fayetteville board expresses dire covid testing situation

Volunteers usher in a long line of cars May 30 as residents wait to be tested for covid-19 at the Washington County Health Unit in Fayetteville.
(File photo/NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Volunteers usher in a long line of cars May 30 as residents wait to be tested for covid-19 at the Washington County Health Unit in Fayetteville. (File photo/NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Northwest Arkansas is in a "crisis situation" regarding testing for covid-19, members of the city's board of health heard Wednesday.

The board, comprised of local medical professionals and administrators, was recently reformed to advise city officials on what to do during the pandemic. It held its second meeting in as many weeks online via Zoom.

Demand for covid-19 tests is going up, but resources are becoming scarce, board members discussed. The board went over a sampling of testing done in the city and region.

Washington Regional Medical Center has done about 10,000 covid-19 tests, according to Lucas Campbell with Northwest Arkansas Pathology Associates, who isn't a board member but joined the meeting. Medical Associates of Northwest Arkansas has done about 3,700 tests, he said.

Community Clinic, with campuses in Springdale, Rogers, Siloam Springs and Fayetteville, has done close to 13,000 tests, said Gary Berner, the clinic's chief medical officer. Most of those, about 7,800, were in Springdale. Rogers had about 4,400 tests. Fayetteville's Community Clinic has done about 500 tests and Siloam has had about 200, he said.

There are other testing sites in the region. Additionally, Washington County's Health Department sends its tests to the state laboratory in Little Rock.

Campbell described a "perfect storm" happening. Northwest Arkansas is seeing a surge in cases. In Washington County, cumulative cases more than doubled over the last three weeks. The state reported 2,080 positive cases June 17, compared to 4,266 cases as of Wednesday. Benton County had 1,612 confirmed cases June 17 and reported 3,164 Wednesday.

A community-wide testing effort is compounded by the fact hospitals have to follow state directives and test patients before any surgeries or procedures, Campbell said. The result is the daily testing demand is far outpacing the daily testing capacity in Northwest Arkansas, he said.

There are also looming supply chain issues, Campbell said. There aren't enough test kits or components coming in. Even if more tests come in, the number of professionals available to process them is being stretched thin, he said.

"We're heading down a very slippery slope that no one seems to have a solution for," Campbell said.

The board agreed to write a letter to U.S. Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Dardanelle, and John Boozman, R-Rogers, as well as 3rd District Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, informing them of a dire situation.

"There's a stark difference in what we're hearing on the federal level and what we're seeing on the ground here," Board Chairman Hershey Garner said.

In other business, the board affirmed a pandemic is happening and backed the city's mask mandate adopted last month. The ordinance requires residents wear face coverings in most indoor public settings.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson last week presented a model ordinance cities can adopt if they want to requiring masks in public. Residents might listen if their city adopts that ordinance, but it has no enforcement powers, City Attorney Kit Williams said.

"We don't need to think about enacting that one," he said "We already have one -- potentially beyond our power -- but it's still a presumed valid ordinance. And it's worked."

Mayor Lioneld Jordan said the city has ordered about 240,000 masks and so far has passed out about 90,000 for free to residents. About 1,100 businesses have been contacted to make the masks available to customers, he said.

The board also decided to work on a job description for a public health officer position with the city over the next week before meeting again. State law allows cities to create such a position, but the duties are written vaguely, Williams said.

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Fayetteville Board of Health

Voting members:

Jay Gandy, associate provost, UAMS Northwest

Lenny Whiteman, vice president of managed care, Washington Regional

Huda Sharaf, medical director, Pat Walker Health Center

Gary Berner, chief medical officer, Community Clinic

Joey Gardner, care coordinator supervisor, Beacon Health Operations

Ex officio:

Stephanie Ho, physician, Vector Health and Wellness

Hershey Garner, physician, Highlands Oncology Group

Brad Hardin, fire chief

Lioneld Jordan, mayor

Source: Fayetteville

Stacy Ryburn can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @stacyryburn.

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