READY TO TEST — Trinity Health System will begin in-house testing for COVID-19 Monday. Preparing for the launch are, seated, Diane Harris, microbiology supervisor at Trinity; and, standing from left, Dr. Daniel Kuebler, Franciscan University of Steubenville professor of biology, and Dr. Himanshu Doshi, the laboratory’s medical director. -- Contributed

STEUBENVILLE — Trinity Health System has developed an in-house molecular test for diagnosing the COVID-19 infection, making it the only hospital in the area to offer in-house testing.

Up to now, tests were being sent out to a reference laboratory in Pittsburgh.

“Widespread availability of diagnostic testing is critical in helping identify and control the emergence of this rapidly spreading illness,” said Dr. Himanshu Doshi, chairman and medical director of the Trinity Health System laboratory. “While our lab has all the necessary state of the art equipment to run the tests, we were limited by lack of availability of the FDA approved testing kits (so) we decided to develop an in-house test.”

Beginning Monday, they’ll be performing the molecular RT-PCR test for detection of COVID-19 virus in the microbiology laboratory at Trinity West.

“This would not have been possible without the invaluable help from the Franciscan University Professors of Biology, Dr. Daniel Kuebler and Dr. Joseph Pathakamuri,” Doshi said. “These two local institutions, Trinity Health System and Franciscan University, came together for the benefit of the community. The test will be run on PCR equipment on loan from Franciscan University, making us the only hospital laboratory in the area that offers in-house testing.”

Validation studies have been completed for the test and Trinity Health System will be applying for the emergency use authorization from the FDA. The tests will only be performed if patients meet criteria for COVID-19 testing established by the Ohio Department of Health.

Trinity health System runs a full-service, state of the art laboratory which is accredited by the CMS for intermediate and/or high complexity testing. The Trinity Health System laboratory is also accredited by the College of American Pathologists and the American Association of Blood Banks. The laboratory is staffed by three physician pathologists and 84 laboratory professionals who conduct nearly 1 million tests in a calendar year.

Trinity said it’s “perfect timing” for the announcement, since next week is National Laboratory Week. “Scientists across the world are intimately involved with COVID-19 testing and Trinity Health System is proud of the work that our stellar team is conducting in our community,” the hospital said in a statement released Friday.