SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. – A Central Florida medical group is offering hundreds of COVID-19 tests to people living and working at area nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Sumter County.
The testing is being done by workers from Premier Medical Associates, the same group that started doing the private drive through testing sites in The Villages last month.
The first to sign up for the facility-wide testing was Buffalo Crossings Healthcare and Rehabilitation in The Villages.
News 6 spoke with Tina Solava who is with KR Management, the parent company for Buffalo Crossings.
“We had already contracted with a test provider to be ahead of the curve,” said Solava. “So when Premier called us and said we would not have to wait to have our tests come in, we said absolutely.”
Solava says right now only Buffalo Crossings will be getting the COVID-19 testing and screening provided by Premier Medical Associates. She confirmed they are also working to get more tests to their other facilities.
“We are providing testing through another contracted provider to provide all of our 17 licensed facilities in Central and South Florida that are overseen by the KR Management access to these rapid response tests,” said Solava.
Solava said they let the families of residents at Buffalo Crossings know last week about the voluntary COVID-19 screening and testing that is now being provided.
"Nobody is being forced to take a test," said Solava. "We are providing tests should residents and employees want to be tested."
Solava confirmed Buffalo Crossings did have a patient at the rehab center that tested positive for COVID-19.
According to the Florida Department of Health, the facility was one of 37 long term care facilities in Central Florida that had a resident or staff member test positive for COVID-19.
[RELATED: 37 long-term care facilities in Central Florida have positive COVID-19 tests]
Solava and the facility administrator say the female patient and the staff helping her were isolated in a back wing far from other patients and staff, and the patient has since recovered and been sent home.
"It's a real success story," said Solava.
But now any patient or worker at the rehab center who wants to get tested, just in case, will get that chance.
Premier Medical Associates sent News 6 a picture of the six staff members, as they arrived to provide coronavirus screenings for everyone inside
“This is a massive effort,” said Dolly McCranie, the director of care coordination for Premier Medical Associates. She is helping organize the effort to provide testing to the nursing homes and assisted living centers in the area.
McCranie said Tuesday and Wednesday they will be testing the rehab side, and next week they will be providing testing to the assisted living side at Buffalo Crossings.
Craig Esquenazi is the Director of Operations and general counsel for Premiere Medical Associate and is said to be the man behind the effort to get widespread testing into the facilities.
“People in the assisted living facilities and the skilled nursing facilities can’t get out, but they need to be tested. The employees need to get tested,” said Esquenazi. “So what we’re trying to do is make it as easy as possible,”
Esquenazi said instead of the nursing home and assisted living patients coming into their PMA doctor offices, they are going to the patients. He said they made it happen in about 48 hours.
"Today you have 80 people being tested at Buffalo Crossings," said Esquenazi. "We're getting it done and we really hope it helps the community.
McCranie said Buffalo Crossings was the first to sign up with Premier Medical Associates and have set up three rooms inside the rehab facility - where they will be bringing patients and staff to be tested. Each room is in a separate wing of the facility. McCranie said patients are given appointment times to come to the room to get the voluntary test.
“So they go into the room, the provider does their screening and the MA (medical assistant) does the testing,” said McCranie. “And that patient goes out and they bring in the next patient until they get through the patients. And then the employees will be done the same way.”
McCranie says they plan to administer around 250 tests at Buffalo Crossings rehab center and assisted living facility and have around 2,000 more tests they will be supplying to nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the area that want to sign up for the service.
“Sumter Place and Sumter Grande will be on Thursday and Friday,” said McCranie. “They have about 350 patients and employees over there, so we’re going to have 4 teams go over there on Thursday and Friday.”