On May 6, UAB News released a story about the impact UAB has had on Alabama's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, titled "UAB commitment to state vital to COVID-19 response." In it, University President Ray Watts highlights the role of UAB Pathology in this unique situation.
Excerpted from the piece:
"COVID-19 has affected virtually every facet of life in Alabama, and there may be nowhere that is more apparent than at the University of Alabama at Birmingham — an institution leveraging its expertise to fill a critical leadership role in response to the pandemic.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has showcased the vital importance of UAB to Alabama and the world,” said UAB President Ray L. Watts. “We continue to leverage research and innovation, community service, patient care, and education to make a big difference.”
As the country began to take note of the devastating virus, UAB’s world-renowned infectious diseases experts provided accurate and timely information across Alabama and beyond, and they have continued to collaborate with local, state and federal elected leaders, deliver critical information to our community, and inform media audiences worldwide.
UAB set an example for the state with early, decisive action to flatten the curve and promote aggressive social distancing among its 22,000 students, 23,000 employees and its patients from across Alabama, who account for more than 1.7 million visits a year to UAB medical facilities.
As a world-renowned research-intensive academic medical center, the state’s eyes turned to UAB Medicine for guidance on how to protect against the virus, medically prepare for a pandemic and care for patients once it arrived. ...
UAB Hospital administrators and leaders in pathology have been able to secure hard-to-get testing equipment, materials and PPE to expand testing in the region, as well as expand testing into previously underserved areas. UAB medical students volunteered at community testing sites and manned phones lines to deliver results.
Due to UAB’s efforts in molecular testing led by Sixto Leal, M.D., UAB was among the first academic medical centers in the country to offer in-house testing by launching a laboratory-developed test in March. Leal and his team are currently testing between 300 and 500 samples daily with COVID-19 RNA testing, confirming the presence of the virus in patients, with a turnaround time of less than 24 hours. This includes all inpatient admissions and health care workers, as well as all patients undergoing surgical procedures at UAB Hospital, and labor and delivery patients. A second COVID-19 RNA testing platform with less than two hours’ turnaround time is now operational as well.