MEMO

To: Hospital Chief Executive Officers (CEOs)

From: Bruce Lauckner, Regional Lead and LHIN CEO (ESC, SW, WW and HNHB)

Re: COVID-19 Testing for Hospital Staff

Date: June 11th 2020

To understand the role that active surveillance of higher risk employment settings should play in the

overall approach to combatting COVID-19, Matt Anderson, CEO of Ontario Health, invited all

hospitals to test their staff.

Further to the memo you received on May 31, 2020, our region would like to provide additional

information regarding the continued surveillance testing of your staff working in Hospital settings.

Included in this memo is information to support you in achieving testing of your hospital staff.

Approaches for Testing Staff

As Hospitals work towards swabbing their staff (which includes all staff working in hospitals and is

not exclusive to health care workers), there are three primary mechanisms for testing. We are

encouraging all Hospitals to work closely with their partners across their local region (ESC, SW, WW

or HNHB) to plan and facilitate testing. Ontario Health is working to identify additional resources in

the community to support ongoing testing, but is not able to provide dedicated teams to support

Hospitals at this time.

We are asking Hospitals to consider the following options, as appropriate:

Utilizing resources from your hospital to facilitate testing;

Sending staff to a local Assessment Centres. [Link]

Scheduling to Ensure Lab Capacity

As the provincial laboratory system continues to enhance its capacity, there has been a request to

provide detailed information on the expected swab timing. This will allow the laboratory leaders to

balance the number of swabs arriving on a particular day and ensure timely turnaround times for

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results. Ontario Health will contact Hospitals directly should issues of capacity arise or changes to

timing be required.

Action: Prior to testing, each Hospital must complete the following survey to ensure

appropriate lab capacity.

Requisition Forms for Staff

Ontario Health has provided a list of new investigation numbers (“INV#”) for Hospitals

coordinating targeted surveillance campaigns. Hospitals are to use the INV#s included via this link

for all staff testing within the Hospital.

All requisitions for specimens collected as part this campaign must include the staff testing INV# in

the “Investigation / Outbreak No.” field in Section 2 (Patient Information) of the requisition. Any

previous INV#s used (including those provided by a Public Health Unit) should not be used.

To ensure successful submission by the testing laboratory into the provincial Ontario Laboratory

Information System (OLIS), teams facilitating testing as part of targeted campaigns must follow the

requisition instructions as outlined in Appendix A. Following these instructions will allow patient

viewing and analysis to enhance understanding of COVID-19.

In cases where staff members are visiting an assessment centre, they should be provided with this

INV# (often included as part of a pre-filled requisition) and bring it with them to the assessment

centre. The INV# must be clearly written on the requisition form for each specimen so that it can be

entered into the information system of the testing lab.

Consistent entry of these elements on test requisitions will improve our ability to effectively respond

to the ongoing challenges and assist with further understanding of COVID-19.

Attachment: Appendix A - COVID-19 Test Requisition Instructions

Resources: Dedicated INV#s for all Hospitals can be found on our website at the following

link

Resources: The COVID-19 Virus Test Requisition can be found at the following link

Specimen Handling and Logistics

Please see detailed information from Public Health Ontario in Appendix B related to specimen

collection and handling.

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Medical Directives

Each Hospital should determine an appropriate ordering clinician. Should the Hospital be unable to

secure a clinician, Hospitals may select to send staff to an Assessment Centre.

Issues Management

For communicating, tracking, and resolving issues related to lab services such as specimen

routing, reporting and turn-around-times, please using the guidelines found in Appendix C.

Thank you for your dedication and hard work. If you have any questions, please send them to

covid19testing@ontariohealth.ca

CC:

Chief Executive Officers – West Region Hospitals

West Region Health System Response Structure

West Region Medical Officers of Health

Appendix A – COVID-19 Test Requisition Completion Instructions All sections in red MUST be completed

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Appendix B: Safe Specimen Handling and Transport

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Appendix C - PDNOC Issues Management Intake

The following table provides a summary of the Issue Management intake protocols – Please note: this protocol

is to be followed by Public Health Units and Requesting Entities for issues related to lab testing, this

process will not address issues related to testing supplies or health human resources.

Protocol for Lab Services Issues Protocol for Digital Services Helpdesk

Purpose For communicating, tracking, and resolving issues related to lab services such as specimen routing, reporting and turn-around-times.

For communicating, tracking and resolving issues related to technical digital services issues related to OLIS or COVID-19 viewer.

Examples

• Community lab isn't faxing me my results • I've had specimens rejected for being

outside the 72-hour window - why? • There is an outbreak in a remote LTCH -

how do I get my specimens to a lab quickly?

• My LTCH was swabbed last week but I haven't received results

• OLIS Application/Malfunction error • OLIS Missing Practitioner/Unit of

Measure/Incomplete Report • OLIS Reports not displayed properly • OLIS Web Viewer Results not Displayed • COVID Viewer Inquiry/Issues

Contact Please submit issues directly to COVID-19.diagnostics@ontariohealth.ca by copying and pasting the table below into an email.

For issues related to (OLIS) or COVID-19 Viewer submit directly to OH Digital Service Support at 1-866-250-1554 or by email at servicedesk@ehealthontario.on.ca (low priority issues).

Please copy the table below into an email and send to COVID-19.diagnostics@ontariohealth.ca with the

following subject: PDNOC Testing Issue – Date

Issue Contact (Who is submitting the

issue and what organization do they

represent)

Issue Description (Describe the issue –

provide as much detail as possible)

Level of Urgency (Provide an estimate on the urgency of issue –

e.g. Low, Medium, High)

Public Health Unit (Whether or not the

issue was submitted by the PHU please indicate the PHU that the issue submitter is located in.

Sample Details (If applicable indicate

the quantity of samples outstanding,

outbreak/investigation number and lab submitted to)

Other Comments (If applicable, provide potential solutions /

alternatives)