Community physicians, dentists, and allied health providers may order testing. Providers must be authorized by both state law and hospital policy to order diagnostic laboratory tests.
We have changed our COVID-19 testing process due to scarce testing resources.
The regional testing strategy adopted by Garfield, Pitkin and Eagle counties prioritizes who to test and who not to test. These guidelines are available on your local public health website and have been adopted by Valley View Hospital.
Recommended COVID-19 PCR testing criteria includes:
- Patients with symptoms consistent with COVID-19
- Asymptomatic patients with confirmed exposure (household member, intimate partner, or contact within 6 feet for 15 minutes or longer) under the guidance of public health. These tests should be done at day 7 after exposure and the patient needs to continue to quarantine for the full 14 days regardless of results
- Asymptomatic people living and working in a congregate facility such as a skilled nursing facility under the guidance of public health to detect or control an outbreak
- Pre-procedure per the Perioperative Assessment and Testing Clinic at Valley View
Not recommended COVID-19 PCR testing includes (testing for the following reasons will be sent to an outside reference laboratory):
- Return to work/school/camp for asymptomatic patients
- Travel requests for asymptomatic patients
- Asymptomatic low-risk exposure patients
We ask for your patience as the national shortage has forced us to send more of our tests out to our partner laboratories. In house tests will be done as promptly as possible generally within 12 hours. Tests sent out will also be done as promptly as possible but given the inherent travel time we currently anticipate results in under 2-3 days. We will be closely monitoring this turnaround time.
Tests for inpatients at Valley View, including ED, will be the priority for in-house testing.
Tests ordered from an outside clinic or care facility will only be performed in-house if the ORDERING PROVIDER calls the laboratory at VVH (970.384.7590) for approval on a case by case basis.
This approach not only manages scarce testing resources but allows us to give your patients with urgent medical needs the timeliest response. All tests results will continue to be returned to you for you to share with your patients.
Finally, in an effort to continuously improve patient and provider experience, we have implemented a “call ahead” process for patients coming to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs for testing. If you are ordering a COVID-19 PCR test for a patient, he/she needs to call the Valley View COVID-19 Community Hotline at 970.384.7632. The patient should wait at least one hour to call the hotline after the order is initiated to allow for the order transmission and receipt. The hotline will provide instructions for the test and preregister the patient in Meditech. This process will improve the efficiency of the testing process. If patients arrive at the Hospital and have not called, they may experience delays.
- Dentists: to order a COVID-19 test, fax this form to our lab at 970.945.2495.
- Other Community Providers: to order a COVID-19 test, fax this form to our lab at 970.945.2495.
Please direct any general questions to Stacey Gavrell, PIO 970.384.6623.
For general questions about COVID-19 testing, please call 970.384.7632.