Local steel mill builds new COVID-19 testing booth
(Seguin) — A group of steel makers has come to rescue of the ER staff at Guadalupe Regional Medical Center. In its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, GRMC officials say CMC Steel Texas employees, last week, quickly mobilized into action presenting the hospital with a much safer and effective way to not only test patients but to also cut down on the amount of personal protective equipment that was being used to conduct a single test.
Tasha Montez, CEO of the Guadalupe Regional Medical Group, says without hesitation, the local steel plant answered the hospital’s call for the design and construction of a new COVID-19 testing booth. Montez says news coverage of a similar booth that was built for patients at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston prompted her call to the local steel mill.
‘We’ve had a relationship with Bill Vanderwaal (director of mill operations) at CMC for many years. He’s been real instrumental and extremely helpful in getting us some safety glasses for our ER staff, asking us if we need any n95s or any other items so I had forwarded that video to him I believe Friday morning and I asked him, I said is there any way that you guys could do anything like that and within five minutes, he said, ‘I’ve got my guys around. We are going to look at it and I’ll let you know.’ So, they were able to deliver that booth at the end of the day so about 10 hours later, they delivered it. They took the initiative to call Brigham Young Hospital and asked what the dimensions where, how everything was set up and they got to it and built that thing in a day for us,” said Montez.
Nicole Patek, GRMC’s executive director of emergency services, says cutting down on the waste of proper protective equipment (PPE) is key to ensuring any hospital’s ability to remain prepared and ready to combat any surge during this pandemic.
“We are doing the drive-thru testing that is coordinated through their physician and each time that means that usually it is one 
to two people that go out just to swab one patient so that is really two sets of gear for every single patient and like she mentioned, we are trying to conserve that for when we have a surge or when there is in-patients that require multiple PPE changes throughout a 12 hour shift or 24 hour day. In practice, in theory, we want to be able to coordinate those tests and the patients that are stable and able to walk and present to basically the isolation testing booth, we will let themselves present. We will already be there just in a surgical mask and gloves within the glove system and that takes away the bonnet, the goggles, the isolation gown, the booties so really, we could test it from five patients a day up to 25 patients a day so that saves multiple sets of PPE every single day once we put that into practice,” said Patek.
Patek says the testing booth is made out of plexiglass and of course, steel. She says the product is the result of the many talents of those employed at CMC.
Patek says this latest gift is just another example of how this community continues to come together.
“The ER team and the facility are so thankful and amazed of the community support that we have received. It’s gone to small things like coffee all the way up to this testing booth and that means so much to the ER team that is on the front line everyday taking care of these patients. It really did warm our heart. We were so thankful,” said Patek.
The design behind the testing booth in Boston reportedly came from a concept that was initially put into use in South Korea. Like Seguin, other communities across the country have also inquired about the booth. However, thanks to CMC’s quick response, GRMC is probably among only a handful of medical centers to already have a booth constructed and in place. Once the details of the testing booth are hammered out, then Patek says the booth will then begin welcoming patients.