NCDHHS Convenes Testing Surge Workgroup

Raleigh, N.C. -- Press Release: North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Apr 17, 2020
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has convened a Testing Surge Workgroup

to develop a plan to increase testing, expand testing sites and options, and address testing supply challenges, including the availability of personal protective equipment. 

The workgroup is composed of internal NCDHHS staff and leaders from the public and private sector, including: 

Traci Butler, LabCorp, Senior Vice President, Atlantic Division
Dr. Gerald Capraro, Atrium Health, Director of Clinical Microbiology Lab at Carolinas Pathology Group
Jay Campbell, North Carolina Board of Pharmacy, Executive Director
Azzie Conley, NCDHHS Division of Health Service Regulation, Chief, Acute and Home Care Licensure Certification Section
Dr. Michael Datto, Duke University Health System Clinical Laboratories, Medical Director
Dr. Garett Franklin, Cary Medical Group, Physician 
Dr. Charlene Green, Old North State Medical Center, President
Jay Ludlam, NCDHHS Division of Health Benefits, Assistant Secretary for NC Medicaid
Dr. Melissa Miller, UNC Health Care, Clinical Microbiology and Molecular Microbiology Laboratories, Lab Director
Alan Myers, Quest Diagnostics, Vice President/General Manager, Southeast Region
Stacie Saunders, Alamance County Health Department, Public Health Director
Chris Shank, NC Community Health Center Association, Executive Director
Earlier this week, Governor Roy Cooper charted a path forward for combating COVID-19. The planOpen PDF focuses on increasing testing capacity, expanding testing sites and addressing supply challenges; ramping up staffing and technology to determine who has been exposed when someone tests positive; and analyzing new data, including number of new cases, hospitalizations, deaths, protective equipment, supplies, hospital capacity and more.