Discussions between Meadowview Regional Medical Center and Primary Plus occupational medicine department have resulted in a solution to an after-hours drug screening quandary that emerged earlier this year.
MRMC will be able to collect specimens after hours, although Primary Plus will handle the paperwork, Primary Plus Occupational Medicine Coordinator Penny Watson said.
Watson said when the occupational medicine department moved from MRMC to Primary Plus this year, the hospital did not have the ability to handle after-hours collections which require the handling of a lot of “legal paperwork that has to be very precise,” Watson said.
A problem presented itself when local companies had employees injured during night shifts. Company policies often dictate a drug test after an accident, but if there is no place to get a test that night, an employee must wait until the next day, delaying their return to work.
Green Tokai Plant Manager Charlie Sapp detailed a situation that arose after an employee had a minor accident. Not only did MRMC not offer drug testing as it had in the past, but Sapp was not aware that the hospital could not do the test. Sapp said Green Tokai ended up purchasing test kits to have readily available, should the need arise again.
Watson said she has prepared test kits and has been delivering those kits to local companies. The companies will be responsible for bringing those kits to the hospital with the employee who is to be tested.
“The response has been very positive,” she said.
For after-hours testing, MRMC will collect the specimens, which must be sent to certified laboratories for testing. Primary Plus will handle the paperwork between the lab and companies.
MRMC will resume collecting specimens for after-hour drug testing effective Monday.
“Hopefully this will solve a problem that we’ve all been worried about for a while,” Watson said.
Contact Misty Maynard at misty.maynard@lee.net or by calling 606-564-9091, ext. 272.
For more area news, visit www.maysville-online.com.
