FLINT, Michigan—Hurley Medical Center received a $50,000 of emergency relief funds from the Community Foundation of Greater Flint that will go towards the purchase of lab equipment, specifically for a laboratory analyzer machine.
Related story: $765,055 of emergency relief funds distributed across Flint and Genesee County
The grant will cover two-thirds of the cost the technology that will further assist Hurley Medical Center in processing the rising number of Covid-19 tests and in the “surveillance” that will be practiced two years from the pandemic’s end. Hurley Medical Center was already in possession of three laboratory analyzers—one for medium-throughput testing, one for rapid testing, and one for antibody testing.
“The proposal is for the purchase of a second medium-throughput analyzer, as that analyzer was already at capacity for testing other than COVID-19. It is unsustainable to run both COVID-19 testing and the other testing on that analyzer, and a second one is needed to absorb the volume of testing,” said Metra Tawari, Hurley’s administrative director of clinical laboratory and manager of sterile services.
As of Monday, May 18, a total of 7,529 tests have been administered in Genesee County with 11% of those tests still pending results. As of Sunday, May 17, Hurley Medical Center has processed 1, 211 tests. This does not reflect the total number of people that have been tested said Hurley Medical Center.
“This grant will provide much-needed funds to Hurley during this time when hospital expenses have escalated due to increased drug costs, personal protection equipment, and preparedness to redesign the hospital’s physical spaces to accommodate new intensive care areas,” said Michael Burnett, President of the Hurley Foundation.
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