Tennessee lab found for Butler County COVID testing

A Memphis, Tennessee lab has taken over processing of Butler County Health Department COVID tests following the shut down of Gamma HealthCare.

AEL Labs in Memphis, Tennessee, will continue the COVID-19 testing done by the Butler County Health Department, said Director Emily Goodin. Butler County reported 39 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, bringing the total to 1,761 people who have tested positive for the virus.

“We are going to continue to work with the lab. We started communication with them (Tuesday), and they’re just going to continue to take over our testing,” Goodin said.

Goodin said, “Last week, I did mention they did our testing for the past couple mass testing we had done. Gamma (HealthCare) went through them.

“I now have a direct contact with AEL Labs, and nothing will change. Our mass testing will still go on and we’ll just use a different lab source. Right now it’s AEL.”

Gamma HealthCare announced Tuesday it was closing its doors permanently at midnight.

An ongoing battle with regulators over its COVID-19 testing procedures led Gamma HealthCare to close.

The closure affects the company’s 700-plus employees at its home location in Poplar Bluff, as well as its subsidiaries in St. Louis and Texas, said President Jerrod Murphy. Gamma was a 39-year company.

Goodin explained, while the health center took this week off from mass testing, the health department will team up with Poplar Bluff Police Department at Whiteley Park from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Nov. 9, Nov. 16 and Nov. 30.

“You don’t need to register for the health department’s testing and you don’t really need to for the National Guard,” Goodin said. “Although they prefer that you do that.”

She said, “We are doing one more drive-through flu clinic at the health department Thursday, Nov. 12, and we are doing walk-ins for flu shots.”

“We had the National Guard here last Friday, Oct. 30,” Goodin said. “They were set up at Whiteley Park, and I believe they did 131 tests. They will come back from noon to 6 p.m. Nov. 20 at Whiteley Park. This time, they’re doing it a little later to catch the after-work crowd.”

Butler County EMA Director Robbie Myers ended the briefing by commending Butler County Clerk Tonyi Deffendall and her staff “with all the precautions they had to do for COVID. They did a great job of getting everything organized and making it a safe experience. We appreciate the work that went into getting us through the election yesterday.”