SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Avera Health in Sioux Falls will join the South Dakota Department of Health Laboratory as a verified COVID-19 testing lab. 

Avera made the announcement Monday afternoon. 

Avera’s Institute for Human Genetics worked closely with the state health department to establish guidelines on how pending tests are processed. Avera’s lab will allow the state to process an additional 200 tests per day. 

Mike Black, the AVP of Avera Clinical Laboratories calls this a win-win situation for Avera, the state and patients.

“They need those results in a timely fashion to either to be able to put that patient in home isolation or further isolation procedures at a medical facility or discharge them because they maybe have a sore throat so timeliness of these results is absolutely critical for the clinician to be able to treat the patient,” Black told KELOLAND News.

Avera announced the most critical and highly suspicious tests will receive priority. 

All test results from Avera will be sent to the state for reporting purposes. Patients with positive test results will be contacted with instructions how to care for themselves at home, symptom management and when to contact health provider if symptoms worsen.