UCMed now DOH-accredited for Covid-19 PCR testing

UCMed now DOH-accredited for Covid-19 PCR testing

THE University of Cebu Medical Center (UCMed) is one with the community in the fight against this unprecedented health crisis. Thus, it has expanded its services and capacity for Covid-19-dedicated beds to be able to cater to more confirmed cases.

Apart from that, after having been granted license on July 17, 2020, UCMed is now a Department of Health (DOH)-accredited PCR testing facility for Covid-19, and is among the 91 laboratory facilities certified for Covid-19 swab tests.

This is a coordinated effort with the DOH's laboratory capacity target of 3,500 tests per day in Cebu.

UCMed is also the first private hospital in Mandaue City and the second in the entire Cebu province to have been certified to provide real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing for Covid-19. This is available for both in-patients and out-patients.

The RT-PCR test is considered as the gold standard for Covid-19 testing as results are at least 97 percent accurate. It uses swabs from a patient's nose or throat, and determines the actual presence of the coronavirus and if a person is currently infected.

Although rapid antibody tests yield faster results, they can only detect antibodies, which are our body's natural defense against infection. However, these antibodies appear only after four days or up to a week after infection, so the test can't be used to diagnose a current disease. There is also a high incidence of false positive results especially if an individual is asymptomatic.

UCMed's RT-PCR testing facility has an ante room where health workers don their personal protective equipment (PPE); designated rooms for receiving of specimen, sample preparation, reagent preparation, template addition and PCR amplification; and another ante room for doffing of PPE.

All Covid-19 tests at UCMed are done by scheduled appointments through online or corporate bookings.

After booking online, one can proceed to the UCMed Medical Arts Building Ground Parking Area on his scheduled date, fill out a patient information form and pay to the cashier. The patient should then proceed to the triage area for screening, and then to the swabbing area for specimen collection. The official result will be sent via email after two to three days. The patient can also opt for a hard copy of the result.

To book an RT-PCR appointment, one can visit ucmed.ph/onlineappointment/rt-pcr.

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