On April 17, Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Indiana Regional Medical Center announced a collaboration that will result in same-day, local COVID-19 testing at IRMC.

Starting April 20, Narayanaswamy Bharathan, chair of the IUP Department of Biology in the John J. and Char Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics,
will be working at IRMC to conduct testing to identify the presence of COVID-19 (coronavirus). Bharathan is using equipment from his IUP laboratory for the testing, which will allow same-day results.
“IUP and IRMC share a commitment to contributing to the health and safety of our community,” IUP President Michael Driscoll said. “This is an excellent opportunity for collaboration on a project that has the potential to literally save lives, now and
in the future.
“IUP is very proud of Dr. Bharathan and his willingness to offer his expertise to this project; he is truly an exceptional scientist, scholar, and teacher. There has been a great deal of work required to ensure that all required legalities have been met,
and I want to thank everyone who has been involved in this project.”
During a nine-hour day, if need be, Bharathan estimates that he can process up to 200 tests.
“One thing this crisis has shown us is that we have incredible resources right here at home,” said Stephen Wolfe, president and CEO of IRMC. “The ability to work with IUP to combine our amazing people has never been more evident. Bringing testing in-house
will be a game-changer for people we serve.”
Bharathan will be working in a laboratory at IRMC certified by CUA under the Pennsylvania Department of Health; the IUP equipment can do specialized COVID-19 RT-PCR clinical diagnostic testing. The equipment, which includes a microfuge 22R Beckman Coulter
Table-top refrigerated centrifuge and Eppendorf AG DNA thermal cycler, is used by Bharathan in his classes and for his own research work.