The reason Hamiltonians faced long test result turnaround times
A technical glitch - ongoing for three months, apparently undetected - has finally been identified as the cause of Hamiltonians' COVID-19 test result delay grief, according to the provincial body overseeing testing.
The fact the issue's now resolved is cold comfort to those who missed out on time with loved ones while waiting for results.
For weeks, Hamiltonians have raised concerns about the long wait times they faced to receive negative COVID test results, some waiting 12 days or more. They needed the results to return to work, visit a loved one in a long-term care home or feel better about hugging a vulnerable family member. All those who spoke with The Spectator were tested at the Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena drive-thru testing centre.
What is now clear: the Mountain drive-thru was the problem-plagued site; the issue was a technical glitch.
A technical issue has been addressed that was resulting in some test results from the Hamilton lab not appearing in the provincial portal/viewer," said Ontario Health, the provincial agency overseeing COVID testing labs, in an email. Ontario Health can also confirm that this issue was unique to the Dave Andreychuk assessment centre."
The email goes on to say the issue was related to coding between laboratory information systems, dating back to April" and that the issue is now fully resolved."
The issues did not affect test processing times nor public health's ability to inform people of positive test results, Ontario Health states.
The whole situation - and the length of time it took to uncover it - raises questions about what else might be going undetected, said University of Toronto infection control epidemiologist Colin Furness.
Is this just a one-off, or is it more systemic?" Furness said. It does raise questions on organization and oversight ... Someone's just not watching the shop."
He pointed to this incident as yet another example of Ontario's public health data and technical infrastructure being inadequate and embarrassing." The infrastructure shortfalls are longstanding, however, preceding the current government, he said.
Furness added that it appears the not appearing" results might not have been counted in any provincial tally.
That would reduce the reported tests carried out which would increase the reported test positivity rate," he said. That's not dangerous, but it is sloppy."
Meanwhile, it remains unclear who was responsible for the glitch, how many people were affected and what a coding (issue) between laboratory information systems" actually entails.
The technical issue was between the provincial lab network and the patient/portal viewer," Ontario Health said when asked for clarification. Upon learning of some test result delays in the region toward the end of June, Ontario Health immediately investigated."
Up until recently, test samples from the Mountain drive-thru centre were sent to either the Hamilton Regional Laboratory Medicine Program (HRLMP) lab, run by the local hospitals, or the Hamilton Public Health lab, run by the province. Public health said last week all samples are now processed by the HRLMP lab.
That's certainly good news that the issue has been identified and I guess, quote-unquote, fully resolved," said Dr. Ninh Tran, Hamilton's associate medical officer of health, upon learning Ontario Health diagnosed the issue.
Hamilton public health became aware of delays in recent weeks via media reports and calls from frustrated residents, Tran said.
He didn't have more information on the coding issue.
The delays caused a ripple effect in Hamilton. Last week, the medical officer of health discouraged people tired of waiting for their initial results from seeking out second tests, warning it causes testing backlogs.
A stop-gap measure was put in place this week to mitigate drive-thru-affiliated problems - residents can now revisit the Mountain testing centre to access results if theirs aren't on the portal within four days - will remain in place for the rest of the week or at least until the issue is fully resolved, Tran said. People should still check the online portal first.
The delays prompted Monique Taylor, MPP for Hamilton Mountain, to demand action from the Ford government during question period Monday.
All these constituents want is confirmation that it is safe for them to interact with their loved ones or to know whether or not their health is in immediate jeopardy," Taylor told the provincial legislature. Why won't this government fix their broken testing system so that these families can finally have some peace of mind?"
As for Hamiltonians, they're still waiting.
Gaye Welch was tested nearly a month ago at the Mountain arena. Her results still aren't on the provincial portal. She only knows she tested negative because she called public health 12 days after her test and was verbally informed she was negative.
It just caused so much anxiety," Welch said. She needed a negative result within 14 days to visit her 97-year-old mother in her long-term care home. I was checking three times a day."
Herb Campbell is still waiting, too.
The Ancaster man wanted a negative result before his five-year-old granddaughter came for a visit. He was tested June 30 at the Mountain arena. His results still aren't on the portal.
Maybe they'll never appear," he said.
Katrina Clarke is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: katrinaclarke@thespec.com