It was early May, and an outbreak of COVID-19 had just been declared at the Lloydminster Hospital in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan.
Health officials determined all staff and physicians would need to be tested, and fast, to contain the virus. The most efficient approach they could think of was one that’s endorsed by early morning coffee drinkers and hungry teenagers everywhere – a drive-thru. Thanks to the coordinated efforts of local staff and leadership in acute care, primary health, public health, registration, employee health and lab - to name just a few - a solid plan was developed and executed quickly.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority worked with the City of Lloydminster to set up the drive-thru site at the Centennial Civic Centre.
“The City had been offering assistance throughout the pandemic and didn’t hesitate to make the space available and provide signage,” said Jody Mayer, manager of the Primary Health Care team at Prairie North Plaza in Lloydminster. “This is a great example of the community and health care working together.”
Within two days, from May 6 to 7, a total of 261 staff and 42 physicians were tested at the drive-thru site.
The drive-thru site was set up at the Centennial Civic Centre in Lloydminster.
Mayer said the testing team was a model of efficiency. “It was made up of Primary Health, Public Health and Pediatric Therapies staff who had been working in the Lloydminster COVID-19 testing and assessment sites,” she said.
Another approximately 100 staff and physicians were tested at the testing site in Lloydminster over the course of the outbreak.
In all, 85 per cent of staff received testing.
“Knowing so many of the staff had been tested for COVID-19 provided reassurance to everyone that the measures put in place to manage the outbreak were working,” Mayer noted.
On May 30, the outbreak was declared over after the standard 28-day period had passed since the onset of the last case.
Some of the dedicated team members who worked at the COVID-19 testing event in Lloydminster: Allyssa MacPhaden, Exercise Therapist; Melissa Latos, Occupational Therapist; Coleen Ribey, Chronic Disease RN; Brittiany Ford, Psychometrician; Laurienne Hancock, Public Health RN.