Name: 'Now what?': Frustrated Iowans caught in Test Iowa limbo have waited as long as 17 days (and counting) for their results
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'Now what?': Frustrated Iowans caught in Test Iowa limbo have waited as long as 17 days (and counting) for their results

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Des Moines RegisterView CommentsWhen Natalie watches Gov. Kim Reynolds speak at her news conferences about Test Iowa&nbsp;and her plans to expand the coronavirus testing program, the Des Moines resident feels left behind.The health care worker was tested for the virus at a Test Iowa site on May 4 in Des Moines.Two days later, she received her results: “Inconclusive.”Natalie, who asked that her last name not be published because she did not have permission from her employer to speak publicly about her experience, is seeking clarity about what comes next for her.The Test Iowa portal page instructed Natalie to treat the results like a positive case if she had symptoms consistent with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus. At the time, Natalie&nbsp;was not experiencing such symptoms, which can include fever, cough or shortness of breath.“Now what?” asked Natalie, who shared documentation of her Test Iowa communication with the Des Moines Register. “No guidance … no email saying, ‘Your lab [sample] has been moved here, or your lab [sample] is being further processed.’ I don’t know if it’s anywhere, and I don’t know who has my health information.”Natalie is among an undisclosed&nbsp;number of Iowans&nbsp;in limbo after being tested for the coronavirus through Reynolds' Test Iowa program. The Register has spoken with three people, including Natalie, who have provided documentation showing inconclusive Test Iowa results.Other Iowans continue to wait for results. Organizers behind the Test Iowa program committed to delivering results within three business&nbsp;days, but the Register talked with two Iowans who have gone at least 13 days each without hearing back on their results.Altogether, these Iowans describe a testing process that's been confusing and frustrating.&nbsp;Top staff for Reynolds say they're hearing from them and plan to address their concerns."The message to Iowans is that we want to help them if they feel that they haven't gotten information,"&nbsp;Paul Trombino, a top aide for Reynolds, told the Register on Tuesday.The scope of affected&nbsp;Iowans is unclear. The state has not released specific data about how many Iowans have received “inconclusive” results, though Trombino&nbsp;estimated&nbsp;it's 1-2% of all Test Iowa results so far. He described the figure as "typically a small percentage."Trombino also estimated that about 2,800 Test Iowa tests have been returned to people between April 25 and Tuesday, a figure that had&nbsp;not been shared publicly before. He said that doesn't include new tests being processed.&nbsp;He estimated that about 750 Test Iowa test samples were collected on Monday.The state has not shared&nbsp;exact numbers on how many Iowans continue to wait for results. It's also unclear&nbsp;how many are among .The Register reached out to public health officials in&nbsp;Iowa counties with Test Iowa sites that have been open for several days. The officials mostly directed questions&nbsp;about the program&nbsp;back to Reynolds’ staff.Nomi Health, the Utah-based company contracted for $26 million to deliver coronavirus testing under the Test Iowa program, directed questions to the governor’s office. The state laboratory, tasked with housing and processing coronavirus tests, directed questions&nbsp;to the governor’s office, as well.Reynolds spoke highly of the program this week, which she highlighted as part of the state's options for coronavirus testing.&nbsp;A state laboratory had already been running tests, alongside&nbsp;hospitals, national labs and other entities. Reynolds in recent days has also highlighted that state employees are traveling to areas of the state to address potential hot spots for the virus."Our state has mobilized with multiple partners and options&nbsp;to significantly expand testing, scale case investigation, all of which enables us to track virus activity across the state," she said Tuesday.► More Tuesday:One of the Iowans waiting for coronavirus test results through Test Iowa is Phil K. James.The 42-year-old was tested on April 29 in Des Moines, according to documentation he shared with the Register. As of Tuesday, nearly two weeks later, he&nbsp;has not received his results. James praised the efficiency of&nbsp;the Test Iowa visit and the actual testing process, which took minutes. But James has effectively been in the dark since then, checking his&nbsp;Test Iowa portal page daily without receiving any additional information."In the middle of a public health crisis emergency, we should be able to count on people to get us timely results, and also good communication," James said. "I haven't had either."Last Thursday, Reynolds’ office acknowledged that The state laboratory that is supposed to process the samples, the State Hygienic Laboratory, known as SHL, blamed the damaged samples on “human error.”Stephen Pradarelli, a spokesman for the lab, said in an email that “a small number of specimens leaked at some point during transport from collection to SHL because of human error and have to be recollected.”Pradarelli said such leaks happen “occasionally in all manner of test collection.” He directed additional questions to the governor’s office.Reynolds’ office has declined to release specific information about how many Iowans’ test samples were damaged. Pat Garrett, a spokesman for the governor, described it in an email as&nbsp;“a&nbsp;very small percentage&nbsp;not tied to one date or site.”Garrett also said the state would contact Iowans with damaged samples, so they can be retested.► More Tuesday:One Iowan told that her sample was damaged but she was turned away from a Test Iowa site when she tried to get retested.Trombino&nbsp;estimated Tuesday that about 60 Iowans were impacted by the damaged samples. He said it's possible more Iowans were impacted as additional people contact the governor's office about delayed results.As of Tuesday, Iowans like James say they have not received any communication from Reynolds’ office about whether their&nbsp;sample was also damaged."There's a little lack of trust in government when these things are promised&nbsp;and they don't fulfill&nbsp;those promises," he said. as a public-private partnership with Nomi Health. The&nbsp;company received a one-year, no-bid, $26 million contract to deliver 540,000 coronavirus tests to the state, the equivalent of 3,000 tests a day.Reynolds said the program would expand on the state’s existing coronavirus testing capacity. At the time, the state was reporting&nbsp;fewer than 1,800 coronavirus tests per day by Iowa hospitals, clinics and public health agencies."Testing is critical to understand how prevalent the disease is and how it's evolving," Reynolds said that day. "The amount of data available will help us start to control the virus" and begin reopening workplaces "in a safe and responsible manner," she said.As of Tuesday, six Test Iowa sites are open around the state: The Des Moines site opened on April 25; Waterloo,&nbsp;April 29; Sioux City, May 4; Cedar Rapids,&nbsp;Thursday; Denison, Saturday; and Davenport, Monday.Reynolds has announced a site will open in Ottumwa on Wednesday and another in Storm Lake on Saturday.The Test Iowa site in Waterloo, the second to open, signified the state’s efforts to address a large spike in coronavirus cases in Black Hawk County linked to a meatpacking plant in Waterloo.There are multiple sources of coronavirus testing in Black Hawk County, including several hospitals. But the scope of testing at the Test Iowa Waterloo site has been limited in recent days.► More Tuesday:Lorie Glover, the emergency management coordinator in Black Hawk, told the Register on Tuesday that nine people were tested at the Test Iowa Waterloo site last Thursday. Glover said another 11 were tested on Friday.Glover said more people had been tested at the site previously, but the number declined because of a backlog in test results being processed at the State Hygienic Laboratory.Reynolds , on May 4, that the lab had already addressed a reported backlog in processing results.Glover directed additional questions to the governor’s office, but she said the number of tests being recorded at the Test Iowa Waterloo site is expected to pick up again.In Cedar Rapids,&nbsp;67 coronavirus tests were conducted&nbsp;on Thursday at the Test Iowa site, the first day of testing in Linn County. The next day,&nbsp;59 tests were administered at the site.Rep. Bill Dotzler, a Democratic representative in Waterloo, said he found the Thursday and Friday numbers in his county "alarming." He said his constituents have reached out to him recently about being unable to get scheduled for a Test Iowa test&nbsp;through the health assessment&nbsp;that Iowans must fill out&nbsp;to determine&nbsp;if they qualify for testing.“These are&nbsp;people who say they think they've had exposure to the virus, and they're not getting authorized to take the&nbsp;test," Dotzler said.&nbsp;"They certainly can't be overwhelmed with only nine people on Thursday."► Fact check:More than 20 days after Reynolds first announced the program, her&nbsp;office has released only general information about how many health assessments have been filled out: &nbsp;as of Tuesday, as well as some age&nbsp;demographics tied to the assessments.Trombino said the state is ramping up testing, and the process has included making sure that enough Iowans know about the sites.It’s unclear how many Iowans have been scheduled to be tested through the website&nbsp;and how many Iowans have been tested at Test Iowa sites. It’s also unknown publicly how many of those tested have resulted in positive coronavirus cases.On May 4, Sarah Reisetter, deputy director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, said public health officials will not separate data to show&nbsp;which coronavirus test results are tied to the Test Iowa program."There'd be no reason to separate out Test Iowa results ... we'll just continue to report positive test results, regardless of the source, as one positive number," she said.Maggie Habib, a spokeswoman for Utah-based Nomi Health, directed questions about the Test Iowa program, including aggregate test results, to the governor’s office.In neighboring Nebraska, where state officials have signed a similar deal with Nomi Health, Gov. Pete Ricketts has released specific data about Test Nebraska&nbsp;numbers during his daily news conferences.On Friday, Ricketts said ,&nbsp;and 30 tests were positive for coronavirus at the time.Trombino said the governor's office plans to release more information to local public health officials about Test Iowa."We have a really good strategy, and a good approach, to getting more information in people's hands,&nbsp;more information in public health's hands both at the state and local level, that will make decision practices more effective going forward," he said.► More Tuesday:Emily Bednar, a nurse in Des Moines, was one of the first Iowans to be tested through the Test Iowa site on April 25 in Des Moines.As of Tuesday, 17 days later, she still does not have her results.Bednar has also not received any direct additional communication from the state about what happened to her test sample, even though Reynolds’ office acknowledged the problem several days ago.Bednar said Monday&nbsp;she called the governor’s office that day and was told that someone would be in contact with her soon. Bednar said she was told that the governor’s office was trying to have someone contact her who has clearance&nbsp;to access her test results, which are private health information."I hope that I'm an anomaly," she said. "I'm a little frustrated at the lack of transparency ... if the vast majority of people using the program have no problem, great. All I can speak for is myself, and I've not had a good experience."Natalie, the other health care worker in the area, said she also received unclear back-and-forth information from the&nbsp;governor’s office.After she got her inconclusive results, Natalie called the state’s 2-1-1 coronavirus hotline as instructed on the Test Iowa portal page. An operator, according to Natalie, told her the inconclusive sample would be retested within 72 hours.Nearly a&nbsp;week later, Natalie has received no additional information from Test Iowa organizers, including any information about getting swabbed again. She has since called 2-1-1 again, where she said another person told her the operations center had no additional information.Natalie has a compromised immune system, and she is around multiple family members who are at high-risk for the respiratory illness. Although she doesn’t have symptoms related to COVID-19, Natalie is seeking confirmation for peace of mind.“The uncertainty is causing my mental health to fracture,” Natalie said while holding back tears. “I wake up and think, ‘Oh gosh, I can’t wait to have these results. I’ll know what’s going to happen. It’s going to be so great.' ... and then to get an inconclusive result.” Barbara Rodriguez covers health care and politics for the Register. She can be reached by email at or by phone at 515-284-8011. Follow her on Twitter .Your subscription makes work like this possible. Sign up at&nbsp;.View Comments

Des Moines RegisterView CommentsWhen Natalie watches Gov. Kim Reynolds speak at her news conferences about Test Iowa&nbsp;and her plans to expand the coronavirus testing program, the Des Moines resident feels left behind.The health care worker was tested for the virus at a Test Iowa site on May 4 in Des Moines.Two days later, she received her results: “Inconclusive.”Natalie, who asked that her last name not be published because she did not have permission from her employer to speak publicly about her experience, is seeking clarity about what comes next for her.The Test Iowa portal page...

'Now what?': Frustrated Iowans caught in Test Iowa limbo have waited as long as 17 days (and counting) for their results

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