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ACLA Statement on White House Meeting
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following today’s meeting at the White House, ACLA President Julie Khani issued the following statement:
“ACLA appreciated the opportunity to meet today with President Trump, Vice President Pence and other members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Representing the backbone of our nation’s testing response, ACLA members have now performed 3.2 million tests and remain focused on continuing to increase our COVID-19 testing capacity for both molecular and serologic tests.
In the meeting, ACLA communicated the importance of labs having the resources they need to perform high-throughput, accurate testing for patients. The administration has taken several important actions to support expanded testing capacity, including increasing the Medicare reimbursement rate for molecular tests, allowing laboratories to bring on additional testing platforms and increase testing for high-risk populations such as nursing home residents. The FDA also recently expanded the types of swabs that can be used for specimen collection, which is critical to reducing the bottlenecks that have limited COVID-19 testing.
Today, ACLA members stand ready to perform more testing and are working directly with governors to support state-led efforts across the country. To meet the goals put forth by our federal government, laboratories will need additional support. ACLA has urged HHS to allocate a portion of the $25 billion test fund to provide direct support to laboratories performing COVID-19 testing. In order to deliver accurate, reliable results for patients at a national scale, we must allocate funding to support their expanded efforts. We will continue to work closely with the administration and Congress to ensure that all laboratories performing high-quality COVID-19 testing have the necessary resources to expand testing capacity.”
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ACLA is a not-for-profit association representing the nation’s leading clinical and anatomic pathology laboratories, including national, regional, specialty, hospital, ESRD and nursing home laboratories. The clinical laboratory industry employs nearly 295,000 people directly, and generates over 117,000 additional jobs in supplier industries. Clinical laboratories are at the forefront of personalized medicine, driving diagnostic innovation and contributing more than $106 billion to the nation’s economy.
In Tennessee and across the country, a calling to serve patients in need
This Laboratory Professionals Week, we’re taking a moment to thank laboratory researchers, technicians, administrative staff and medical officers who are going above and beyond the call of duty to serve patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, ACLA is shining a light on Cyndi, a manager at Aegis Sciences who helped bring up new tests to meet the needs of patients in Tennessee.
Cyndi is part of a team of dedicated laboratory scientists working diligently to expand COVID-19 testing capacity in labs all across the country.
“I would like to recognize Cyndi and the rest of our hard working BioPharma laboratory team,” said Dr. Matthew Hardison, SVP of Lab Operations at Aegis. “Cyndi and her team worked quickly to leverage Aegis’s molecular testing capabilities to offer testing for COVID-19. This testing is vital to better understand the impact of SARS-CoV-2 and helps to reduce the spread of the virus.”
Every single day, lab professionals like Cyndi are working around the clock to bring vital testing capacity to the patients who need it most. To date, ACLA members have performed more than 2.88 million tests for COVID-19.
Adapting platforms with ingenuity, determination and hard work
This Laboratory Professionals Week, we’re taking a moment to thank laboratory researchers, technicians, administrative staff and medical officers who are going above and beyond the call of duty to serve patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, ACLA is shining a light on Exact Sciences in Madison, Wisconsin, where dedicated lab professionals worked around the clock to adapt their colorectal cancer screening platform for COVID-19 testing.
Exact Sciences teams adapt colorectal cancer screening platforms for COVID-19 testing
At Exact Sciences in Madison, Wisconsin, teams are working around the clock to support testing for COVID-19. Over the last several weeks, dedicated lab professionals have worked tirelessly to adapt the company’s flexible, automated lab platform, which normally looks for biomarkers associated with colorectal cancer, to now look for COVID-19.
“Work that would normally take months is now being accomplished in weeks,” says Ana Hooker, Exact Sciences’ Senior Vice President of Operations. “It’s inspiring to see our laboratory professionals take on this public health challenge with optimism and determination, while at the same time continuing to deliver Cologuard and Oncotype DX results to providers and patients.”
Thanks to the efforts of these dedicated lab technicians and staff, Exact Sciences has been able to continue to support cancer screening while also providing COVID-19 testing.
“Everyone at Exact Sciences wants to do our part, and we thank all our colleagues for doing theirs,” says Hooker. “Together, we will overcome this pandemic and demonstrate the amazing ingenuity and talents of the people working in our industry.”
ACLA members, including Exact Sciences, have collectively performed 2.7 million tests for COVID-19 and continue to expand capacity nationwide.
On a mission to expand access to accurate, reliable COVID-19 testing
This Laboratory Professionals Week, we’re taking a moment to thank laboratory researchers, technicians, administrative staff and medical officers who are going above and beyond the call of duty to serve patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, ACLA is featuring BioReference’s Chief Medical Officer and laboratory director who has played a critical role expanding public access to accurate, rapid COVID-19 testing nationwide.
A Trailblazing Chief Medical Officer
James [Jim] Weisberger, M.D., chief medical officer and laboratory director for BioReference Laboratories, is a board certified anatomic and clinical pathologist and has proven to be a trailblazer during this pandemic. Through resourceful innovation and guidance, Dr. Weisberger has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to expand public access to laboratory testing of COVID-19, specifically to critical patients, by ensuring they receive results in 24 hours or less. Under his leadership, the laboratory has processed and shared the results of more than 300,000 tests.
Dr. Weisberger dedicates many hours each day to safeguard key laboratory operations and quality systems. He has identified out of the box solutions to increase capacity, maintain turnaround times and leverage all resources to accelerate the COVID-19 diagnostic response. What’s more, he also ensures that patients receive their results to help guide treatment.
“Providing patients accurate COVID-19 results as quickly as possible is our duty as a laboratory,” said Dr. Weisberger when asked about his role during this unrelenting health crisis. “The ability to utilize emerging technology and provide further answers to health care providers and their patients is how we can limit the spread of the virus.”
During Laboratory Professionals Week, many laboratory professionals are recognized for their contributions and join dedicated health care providers, first-line responders, policy-makers and members of the administration who are combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thanks to dedicated lab professionals, like Dr. Weisberger, commercial labs across the nation have performed more than 2.7 million COVID-19 tests to date.
An unwavering commitment to serve vulnerable communities
This Laboratory Professionals Week, we’re taking a moment to thank laboratory researchers, technicians, administrative staff and medical officers who are going above and beyond the call of duty to serve patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, ACLA recognizes Maryann O’Toole, Acting Vice President of Operations of WestPac Labs, a Sonic Healthcare USA clinical laboratory in Santa Fe Springs, California. Every day, O’Toole and her team are working around the clock to serve the country’s most vulnerable patients, including nursing home residents and the homeless.
Over the past few weeks, Sonic Healthcare USA swiftly brought on additional testing platforms to meet the testing demands of vulnerable patient populations, like nursing home residents, the homeless and inmates. Medical and operational teams at WestPac Labs—a Sonic Healthcare USA clinical laboratory in Santa Fe Springs, CA—have been working tirelessly to support local governments, nursing homes, first responders and underserved populations by providing on-site resources and meeting logistical needs.
Maryann O’Toole, Acting Vice President of Operations of WestPac Labs, recently assisted the Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles by working on-site alongside physicians to handle and transport specimens and deliver test results.
“I truly believe that as medical laboratory professionals, it is our responsibility to be ambassadors to all patients in need, she said. “We are not just known as a testing laboratory, but have become true partners and colleagues to our hospitals, communities, nursing homes, senior living facilities and our homeless populations.”
At the same time, O’Toole is leading and coordinating Sonic Healthcare USA’s national testing response for the nursing home population across all of their clinical laboratories. Through her unwavering commitment to quality patient care, O’Toole exemplifies the profound responsibility and dedication of a medical laboratory professional.
Thanks to the hard work and commitment of these lab professionals, Sonic Healthcare USA and their fellow ACLA members have performed more than 2.6 million COVID-19 tests to date.
Working non-stop to deliver the results patients need
This Laboratory Professionals Week, we’re taking a moment to thank laboratory researchers, technicians, administrative staff and medical officers who are going above and beyond the call of duty to serve patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, ACLA is shining a light on Quest’s “COVID Standouts” at their Chantilly, VA Molecular Infectious Disease Lab and their Schaumburg, Illinois lab. These employees’ hard work behind the scenes validating tests, supporting clients and preparing incoming COVID-19 specimens has been essential to Quest’s testing efforts.
Behind the Scenes in Chantilly, Virginia: Megan, Cary, Tamara
Lab professionals are working around the clock all across the country to help stop the spread of COVID-19. While some heroes wear lab coats, others work behind the scenes. In Quest’s Molecular Infectious Disease lab in Chantilly, Virginia, the team is working day in and day out to deliver COVID-19 results.
“It feels good to help with a bigger cause,” says Tamara, a Specimen Management Laboratory Admin.
On March 27, Chantilly banded together by wearing red to unify in the fight against COVID-19. Why red? On Fridays, employees wear red wristbands after they’ve had their temperature screened upon their entrance into the building. Each day, employees receive a different color wristband after having their temperature screened.
Delivering Results in Schaumburg, Illinois: Dhartika, Jacqueline and Sangeeta
Just like their Chantilly, VA colleagues, Quest’s team in Schaumburg, Illinois is working nonstop to perform testing for COVID-19.
Testing starts with validating the assay to make sure all the equipment is working properly. Each employee prepares the specimen to put in the Roche P6800, which is featured in the background of this photo. Once the specimen is processed, they are able to report out the results.
Thanks to Quest’s employees – in VA, IL and around the country – and the hard work of their fellow lab professionals, commercial labs across the nation have conducted more than 2.6 million COVID-19 tests to date.
ACLA Statement on the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following Senate passage of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, ACLA President Julie Khani released the following statement:
ACLA commends Congress for recognizing the need to substantially increase funding and support for testing in the most recent COVID-19 legislative package. This is an important step to provide states, federal agencies and the clinical laboratory community with the resources to further scale testing in response to the unprecedented need presented by the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Federal and state public health officials and business leaders across industries all agree that wide-scale molecular and serologic testing is vital to reopening the country and protecting the health of Americans. ACLA urges HHS to quickly provide clarity on how the funding will be allocated to support hotspots and high-risk populations, as well as broader efforts to increase high throughput testing nationwide. Continued support and funding for high throughput testing from commercial, hospital and academic laboratories is essential to achieve both of these goals.
ACLA is committed to working with Congress, the Administration and Governors to ensure that we can adequately expand America’s testing capacity, protect public health and support the reopening of our economy.
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ACLA is a not-for-profit association representing the nation’s leading clinical and anatomic pathology laboratories, including national, regional, specialty, hospital, ESRD and nursing home laboratories. The clinical laboratory industry employs nearly 295,000 people directly, and generates over 117,000 additional jobs in supplier industries. Clinical laboratories are at the forefront of personalized medicine, driving diagnostic innovation and contributing more than $106 billion to the nation’s economy.
LabCorp Employees Work Behind-the-Scenes to Develop Critical COVID-19 Tests
This Laboratory Professionals Week, we’re taking a moment to thank laboratory researchers, technicians, administrative staff and medical officers who are going above and beyond the call of duty to serve patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, ACLA is shining a light on two members of the LabCorp team who are essential to developing and deploying critical COVID-19 tests.
Ayla, Research Scientist II at LabCorp
Ayla is a Research Scientist II in the molecular microbiology research and development group at LabCorp’s Center for Esoteric Testing in Burlington, N.C. Ayla has spent the last three months developing, testing and deploying the LabCorp COVID-19 RT-PCR Test, which received FDA Emergency Use Authorization on March 16, 2020, making LabCorp the first commercial diagnostics laboratory to receive such authorization. Through tireless hard work and dedication, Ayla has played an integral role in allowing LabCorp to lead in COVID-19 testing and provide invaluable information to patients and health care providers in the battle against COVID-19.
Julia, Lab Supervisor at LabCorp
Julia has led the molecular diagnostics department at LabCorp’s Raritan, N.J., lab over the last several weeks with technical expertise and a calm disposition during a tense and trying time. Her admirable leadership and dedication to patient care enabled LabCorp to validate the company’s COVID-19 assay on three instruments in an extremely short period of time, while also supervising and training molecular employees and many additional volunteers.
Thanks to Ayla and Julia’s dedication, and the hard work of their fellow lab professionals, commercial labs across the nation have performed more than 2.5 million COVID-19 tests to date, and continue to scale up capacity.
Clinical Labs Support Congressional Funding To Ensure Robust Testing Infrastructure
Federal Funding Is Needed To Ensure Laboratories Can Scale High Throughput Testing For COVID-19
Washington, D.C. – The American Clinical Laboratory Association is encouraged by reports from Congressional leaders and the Administration regarding $25 billion in funding for COVID-19 testing. Moving forward, it is critical that any funding includes robust support for commercial laboratories performing and expanding COVID-19 testing, including high throughput tests that are required to achieve national scale. To expedite funding for expansion as quickly as possible, it’s recommended that federal funding route through HHS as opposed to individual states.
Improving testing capacity is one of the most critical steps that Congress and the Administration can take to protect Americans and restart the U.S. economy. Nearly every public health expert and economist agrees that a national testing infrastructure that supports high throughput testing must be in place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Yet, to date, no dedicated funding for laboratories has been made available to provide and increase nationwide COVID-19 testing that would assist in decisions to reopen the economy and allow Americans to return to work.
As policymakers work to provide funding for COVID-19 testing, it’s critically important that there is robust financial support for:
- Expanded access to high throughput, accurate and reliable testing and supplies, including swabs, personal protective equipment, reagents, testing kits, etc.;
- Equipment acquisition, including IT software, hardware and cybersecurity protection, to support nationwide testing capacity;
Increased employee training and staffing; - Full cost associated with serology testing as well as uncompensated and undercompensated care; and
- Robust coordination with state health agencies and federal authorities.
We appreciate the continued work of Congressional leaders in both the Senate and House who have released detailed plans in support of an expanded testing infrastructure. Congress must take immediate action to designate the funding necessary to ensure that all Americans have access to the high throughput, accurate and reliable testing that is needed.
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ACLA is a not-for-profit association representing the nation’s leading clinical and anatomic pathology laboratories, including national, regional, specialty, hospital, ESRD and nursing home laboratories. The clinical laboratory industry employs nearly 295,000 people directly, and generates over 117,000 additional jobs in supplier industries. Clinical laboratories are at the forefront of personalized medicine, driving diagnostic innovation and contributing more than $106 billion to the nation’s economy.
