PA DoH Acting Secretary visits Mercy Fitzgerald community COVID-19 testing site

On January 6, Pennsylvania Department of Health Acting Secretary Keara Klinepeter visited Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital to speak at a press conference announcing Delaware County’s new COVID-19 testing site located at Mercy Fitzgerald. The free, drive-through testing site opened on January 3 in response to an urgent demand for testing amid increasing COVID-19 cases throughout Delaware County.

“Through this collaborate effort and through the Department of Health’s steadfast commitment to making COVID-19 testing accessible, available and flexible, we will be able to test thousands of Pennsylvanians at this site,” Klinepeter said. “This collaboration is a reminder that we are still all in this together and it is going to take action from all of us to get through this together.”

Also in attendance at the press conference were Dr. Greg Casey, emergency medicine attending physician and medical director of EMS for Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, Chris Cullom, president of Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, Dr. Monica Taylor, Delaware County Council chairwoman, Rosemarie Halt, Delaware County Board of Health chair and the county’s COVID-19 Task Force director, and Gina Curry, PA state representative for the 164th legislative district.

Dr. Casey spoke to the media about the need for testing in our community as well as the need to prevent overcrowding of Emergency Departments and a strain on healthcare systems in our region.

“We’re busting at the seams,” Dr. Casey said. “We’ve seen a surge like no other.”

Members of the public are asked to avoid coming to hospital Emergency Departments for COVID-19 testing, especially if they are asymptomatic or only have mild symptoms, and instead utilize testing sites like the one at Mercy Fitzgerald. However, individuals should come to the ED if they are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, or moderate-to-severe COVID-19 symptoms, such as difficulty breathing and chest pain.

Serving the Community

In collaboration with county and state officials, Cullom prioritized the need to deliver free and convenient COVID-19 testing to members of Delaware County, where case numbers have risen dramatically over the last few weeks.

“This is mission-oriented work representative of who Mercy Fitzgerald and Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic are as a healthcare provider and community partner,” Cullom said.

As COVID-19 case volumes rose, so too did the burden on Mercy Fitzgerald’s Emergency Department, which has been overwhelmed with patients seeking treatment and testing for COVID-19. For example, on January 6, Mercy Fitzgerald had 53 inpatient COVID-19 positive patients, accounting for nearly half of the hospital’s patient census. Over the two weeks prior, Mercy Fitzgerald averaged 46 COVID-related ED visits per day, getting as high as 75 COVID-related ED visits on December 28, 2021. In contrast, during the first two weeks of December 2021, the hospital averaged only 20 COVID-related ED visits per day.

Recognizing the pressing need to both deliver free testing to the community and lighten the burden on Mercy Fitzgerald’s ED staff, Cathy Cardillo, regional director of Advocacy for Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic, was asked to spearhead efforts to establish a public COVID-19 testing site on the Mercy Fitzgerald campus.

Cardillo wasted no time leveraging Mercy Fitzgerald’s strong ties with Delaware County, working quickly to secure the commitments and resources needed to open the new testing site, which is operated and funded through Delaware County and the PA Department of Health.

“This is just the latest phase in our valued partnership with Delaware County, and we are grateful for the county’s ongoing support,” Cardillo said.

Free COVID-19 testing is available to the public at the Mercy Fitzgerald site Tuesdays through Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Testing is reserved for healthcare workers, first responders and Emergency Management Services personnel from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. each morning. The site is located at 600 S. Wycombe Avenue, in the parking lot near St. Bernard’s Hall and Friendship Circle in Darby.

For more information about the Mercy Fitzgerald testing site and others in Delaware County, please visit https://delcopa.gov/covid/testing.html.

Photo caption: Government and clinical leaders stand for a photo following a press conference at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital on Thursday, January 6, 2022, to discuss the urgent need for COVID-19 testing in Delaware County. From left to right: Gina Curry, PA state representative for the 164th legislative district; Dr. Monica Taylor, Delaware County Council chairwoman; Keara Klinepeter, Pennsylvania Department of Health Acting Secretary; Dr. Greg Casey, emergency medicine attending physician and medical director of EMS for Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital; Chris Cullom, president of Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital; Rosemarie Halt, Delaware County Board of Health chair and the county’s COVID-19 Task Force director.