An Interview with CHI Franciscan’s Lab Director Tracy Bradfield

When the pandemic struck, the clinical laboratories at CHI Franciscan’s eight hospitals in and around Tacoma, Wash., had no COVID-19 testing capabilities. Creative and decisive thinking by the system’s lab director overcame the challenges and prepared the system for future public health emergencies.

In January 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in the U.S. in Snohomish County, just north of Seattle. Within weeks, the CHI Franciscan health system, based in Tacoma, just south of Seattle, found itself in the epicenter of the country’s first COVID-19 outbreak. Suddenly, hundreds then thousands of people experiencing COVID-like symptoms needed to be tested for the potentially lethal virus.

Read more here: https://www.4sighthealth.com/pandemic-problem-solving-building-the-ship-while-sailing-the-covid-19-tidal-wave/