South Charleston, W.Va.-based Thomas Memorial Hospital has opened a fully-automated lab, WSAZ reported May 3.
With the automation, hundreds of lab tests can be performed in 15 minutes and with a lower possibility of mistakes than traditional labs, the report said.
"This is the future of lab testing," Director of Laboratory Services Tony Aluise told WSAZ.
"Having [COVID-19] has created a situation where we have less technical people available to test patients and samples," he said. "We went out and looked for … the best automated system we could find so we didn't have to have so many techs in the laboratory."
The new lab's automation benefits both patients and employees, Mr. Aluise said. Lab employees have less technical work to do, and patients can be tested more quickly and with less sample volume.
"This is the best of anything," Mr. Aluise said.