The University of Nevada, Reno has announced that it has terminated its contract with Northshore Clinical Laboratories.
The university says the decision was made due to dissatisfaction with Northshore's ability to provide on-campus COVID-19 testing for students, faculty and staff.
The University’s Student Health Center will continue to provide free daily COVID-19 testing for University students, faculty and staff, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
However, the Student Health Center will not be available for COVID-19 testing tomorrow, Feb. 2, as it prepares to assume testing operations. Testing will be available starting Thursday, Feb. 3.
“This announcement does not in any way change our focus, which is to provide timely on-campus COVID-19 testing for our campus community,” University President Brian Sandoval said. “In addition to reaching out to the State of Nevada for assistance, we are also planning to explore additional resources from the region’s health organizations as well other University resources in order to meet the on-campus testing needs."
In a response, Washoe County says:
"The University of Nevada’s agreement with Northshore Clinical Labs is different and separate than Washoe County’s. Very early on, Northshore indicated that they were not able to provide PCR testing in the community due to overwhelming nationwide demand on their lab and offered antigen rapid-tests only. We continue to review licensing status with the State of Nevada to make sure that the testing in our community meets the necessary requirements. The supplemental testing conducted by Northshore Clinical Labs got our community through an unprecedented spike in COVID-19 infections, and we are beginning to see a steep drop in demand for tests. Meanwhile, with the support of the Nevada National Guard, the Washoe County Health District has been able to increase testing capacity through their operations, and we encourage residents to utilize any available testing resource if they feel they might have COVID-19 or are exhibiting symptoms."
