ROCK SPRINGS — Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County (MHSC) is reporting an increase in the amount of residents seeking COVID-19 tests. In the last seven days, they have administered about 100 tests per day, which is up from about 55 tests per day from last month.

“In the last seven days, we have administered approximately 100 tests per day, which is up from 55 tests per day one month ago,” Deb Sutton, MHSC Marketing Director and Public Information Officer, said.

“On Monday, August 23, we had our busiest day in the swab line and collected swabs on 180 people in 5 hours,” Sutton said. “The line was long, reaching across the campus and down Skyline.”

Due to the line’s length, the Rock Springs Police Department helped the hospital’s security team with traffic control, she said.

Not only has the hospital seen an increase in the amount of tests being administered, but the amount of COVID-19 positive patients seeking treatment from the emergency room.

“Our emergency room has seen a marked increase in Coronavirus cases. The majority of those cases
have not been vaccinated,” Sutton said in a press release sent out today.

The following is a graph showing how many COVID-19 related patients the hospital has seen since August 9.

Date	COVID-19 Inpatients	COVID-19 ER Patients
August 9	3	8
August 10	2	7
August 11	2	7
August 12	1	4
August 13	1	4
August 14	1	3
August 15	1	5
August 16	4	9
August 17	4	9
August 18	5	5
August 19	3	5
August 20	3	5
August 21	2	3
August 22	4	11
August 23	3	10

Tests Being Given

• State PCR tests – nasopharyngeal swabs – no charge – send out tests with to 4-day turnaround
• Curative PCR tests – nasal swabs – no charge – send out tests with 2 to 4-day turnaround
• Hospital PCR tests – nasopharyngeal swabs – reserved for inpatients and patients requiring procedures

These swabs are a shallow nasal swab, unlike the previous collections in which patients were
asked to spit into a container or the long nasopharyngeal that were once offered, Sutton explained.

Appointments can be made at curative.com. Do not have food, drinks, candy, gum, mouthwash, tobacco, for up to 20 minutes before the collection. Once your appointment is set, drive to the swabbing station. Hospital staff will have your kit ready and will oversee the sample collection.

“Due to a shortage across the nation, we no longer have same-day molecular tests for outpatients,” Sutton said.

Hours Extended

With the need for testing increasing, the hospital has decided to increase its drive-thru swab station hours. The drive-thru station will now be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

“We aren’t sure how long some people sat in line on Monday,” she said. “We do know some were in line for more than an hour.”

Even though the wait times may be long, MHSC officials do not want residents to get discouraged from getting these tests done if they think they have COVID-19 symptoms.

“We are glad so many people are being tested,” Sutton said.

Local Vaccination Opportunities

With testing and cases in the county on the rise, Sutton said the hospital wants to remind residents that they can still receive a COVID-19 vaccination. The county still has all three vaccines available: Pfizer-BioNTech has been approved for anyone 12 and older; and Moderna and Johnson & Johnson for anyone 18 and older.

“We encourage everyone to please get vaccinated,” she said.

If a person has been recently diagnosed with COVID-19, they can wait up to 90 days for a vaccine. However, they can get it anytime post isolation, Sutton said.

There are a number of ways to accomplish that on any given day in our county:

Drive-thru: The hospital will still be hosting drive-thru COVID-19 vaccinations clinics every Wednesday from 3-6 p.m. at the hospital’s main entrance.
Shot Party: Call 307-352-8561 for more information or to schedule a “shot party.”
Walk-In: A daily walk-in vaccine clinic is offer by Sweetwater County Public Health from 9-10 a.m. weekdays. Afternoon appointments can be scheduled. Call 307-922-5390.