[OLYMPIA, Wash.] – MTN –You can now dial 988 in the United States for assistance with: thoughts of suicide, Mental health crises, substance use crises, or any other kind of emotional distress.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted the new, nationwide, easy-to-remember, three-digit number in 2020. As of July 16, 2022, people experiencing a mental health crisis, or those worried about a loved one going through a crisis, can call, text, or chat 988 via cell phone, landline, or voice-over-internet device and be connected to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The current NSPL number (1-800-273-TALK (8255)) will continue to be in service; the new three-digit number is intended to be easier to remember and access in times of crisis.
Depending on which area code communication to 988 is made from, the connection will be routed to one of three designated crisis call center hubs. This is the newest addition to the state’s network of crisis care providers and doesn’t replace existing centers.
Washington is one of 21 states that have passed legislation linked to the launch of the new 988 system. Only two other states have joined Washington in legislating a funding source for the services in their states. Washington established a telcom tax as part of House Bill 1477 (E2SHB 1477), which also outlines standards, rules, oversight, integration, follow-up, and accountability.
Ultimately, the 988 system is designed to expand mobile crisis response teams, including trained mental health professionals, to respond to individuals around the state. Sponsors of the bill have voiced their hope that such teams can eliminate the need for armed law enforcement to respond. However, there are still times that activation of an EMS or law enforcement response may be necessary, such as in the case of an active suicide attempt.
Additionally, part of the legislation requires health insurance providers within the state to establish, by January 1, 2023, a system making next-day appointments available to their enrollees with urgent, symptomatic behavioral health conditions. Further, a Crisis Response Improvement Strategy Committee has been established to develop recommendations to the governor’s office and legislature to support additional needs as identified and outlined in HB 1477.
If you or someone you care for needs resources for mental health crises, suicidal thoughts, substance use crises, or other emotional distress, the below services are always available.
[KIRKLAND, Wash.] – (MTN) Health officials and epidemiologists are sounding the alarm about the latest COVID variants, BA.4 and BA.5, spreading across the United States and quietly driving up hospitalizations at an alarming rate.
COVID BA.5, and its close cousin BA.4, not only share mutations with the highly infectious original Omicron strain but has some of the mutations that caused the Delta variant to attack the deep lung tissues and additional adaptations that escape an immune response, including memory T cells. Data out of South Africa for BA.4 showed the R0, a measure of how easily a contagious disease can spread, was 18.6, with a real-world R0 of 10.0 to 12.0.
Previous variants including the original Omicron strains required 15 to 60 minutes of close contact to build up a viral load to cause an infection. The new strains, which represent 40% of new cases in Washington state according to the University of Washington Virology Lab, can be passed along through casual contact. Although masks are not required by regulations anywhere in the United States, healthcare professionals are urging people to mask up again. Including those who had previous infections and the vaccinated.
The current vaccinations are based on the original strain of COVID, which has since mutated tens of thousands of times, producing five major waves that swept the planet. Alpha, Delta, Omicron, Omicron BA 2.12.1, which caused a spike of new cases in Washington in late May and June, and now Omicron BA.5. Each mutation has adapted to bypass our immune systems and therapeutics. COVID variant-specific boosters are expected to be available in the fall.
It is a common belief that viruses always get weaker when they evolve, but that isn’t true. COVID, SARS, and MERS are all part of the coronavirus family which includes the common cold. SARS has a mortality rate of 1% to 2% while MERS, which evolved from SARS, has a mortality rate as high as 40%. While a common cold could be equated to a lazy housecat, COVID is closer to a male lion and MERS would be akin to a pack of starving lions. Cats and lions are felines – a scratch from a cat hurts while a scratch from a lion can kill. COVID lies between SARS and MERS.
The ability to spread easily isn’t the only evolution in BA.5 that has the medical community so worried, pre-print studies show it can evade all forms of previous immunity. Many people who had never caught COVID fell ill in May and early June, with a spike in BA.2.12.1 cases. Before BA.5 became the new dominant strain, a recent infection offered on average five months of enhanced immunity, but BA.5 is infecting people who had COVID just weeks earlier. Although other strains could evade front-line defenses, memory T cells weren’t fooled. Many who had previous infections or are vaccinated had mild symptoms that didn’t require seeing a doctor or hospitalizations. Data indicates that isn’t the case for BA.5, which can slip past the secondary immune response.
In Washington, new case rates are similar to the end of December, when the Omicron surge brought regional hospitals to their knees a few weeks later. Experts believe the case rate is much higher due to widely available home tests which go unreported, the end of COVID testing for international travel, and most employers dropping frequent COVID testing requirements. Fewer mild and asymptomatic cases are being captured. In San Francisco, wastewater data shows that COVID-19 has quietly spread at a faster rate than earlier spikes.
According to the Washington State Department of Health, area hospitals are already strained, in a situation eerily similar to December 2021. Statewide only 8% of acute care beds and 10% of ICU beds are available. Twelve percent of acute care patients have COVID, while ICU occupancy remains at a manageable 7%. A common question is if someone is hospitalized “with” COVID or “due” to COVID, but the point doesn’t matter. A patient that has COVID has to be treated differently and requires more attention, which saps already thin medical resources.
So far, the number of patients on ventilators remains far lower than in previous waves. While immunity to prevent symptomatic infection has declined significantly, protection from severe COVID symptoms appears to be holding.
As with previous waves, people 18 to 34 have the highest case rate while those 65 and older have the highest hospitalization rate. Officially, only three counties in Washington don’t have a “high transmission rate” for COVID.
[OLYMPIA, Wash.] – (MTN) Using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) updated criteria for measuring the impact of COVID in a region, 15 Washington counties currently have high community levels of COVID-19. In March, the CDC changed the criteria for defining low, medium, and high to a formula that evaluates new cases, new hospital admissions, and the percent of in-patient staffed beds treating COVID-infected patients.
The University of Washington Virology Lab reported on Monday that test positivity was 15.4% from an Independence Day holiday reduced sample set. The rapidly evolving Omicron variant of COVID has eliminated the tidal waves of new cases that came in spikes every four to six months to a steady but controllable flood.
On November 28, 2021, the first Omicron cases were detected in Washington. A series of superspreader events over the weekend of December 4 in southwestern Washington spread new Omicron cases to 14 counties in less than ten days. By mid-January, Washington hospitals were on the precipice of moving to crisis standards of care.
The Omicron BA.2 variant was detected at the end of January and less than two months later had replaced the original Omicron strain accounting for 84% of new cases. However, on June 12, BA.2 was down to 17% of new cases. The BA.2 variant was replaced with the highly transmissible vaccine and prior immunity resistant BA.2.12 strain, which is already being replaced by BA.5.
Omicron BA.5 is a very vaccine and prior infection immunity resistant variant with similar genetic mutations to the Delta strain. The original vaccines remain effective at preventing hospitalization and severe illness but are offering diminished protection from catching COVID. Prior COVID infections, even from Omicron strains, provide little immunity to the new strains, especially BA.5.
Although the number of people infected by COVID is increasing, the number of deaths remains low due to many people’s broad baseline immunity. Researchers are still trying to understand the impact of long-COVID, defined as experiencing COVID systems or COVID-related complications more than 21 days after infection. It is estimated that 20% to 33% of people infected by coronavirus experience long-COVID. Symptoms can range from “COVID toe,” the loss of taste and smell, to debilitating migraines, joint pain, and fatigue.
Fifteen counties in Washington are feeling the sting from high community transmission of coronavirus, new hospital admissions, and the percentage of hospitalized patients with COVID. Asotin, Chelan, Clallam, Columbia, Douglas, Ferry, Grant, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Lincoln, Pacific, Pierce, Spokane, Thurston, and Walla Walla Counties have been advised to take increased protective measures, including wearing masks indoors.
King County didn’t make the list, but 4,900 people are being tested for COVID daily, and 20.2% of those tests return positive. The figure is artificially high compared to last year when home testing wasn’t widely available, and international travel required a negative PCR test. Additionally, many employers require repeated negative PCR tests in some job fields. Today, most PCR tests are only given to people suspected of having symptomatic COVID and to frontline healthcare workers with recent close exposure.
More troublesome is daily new hospital admissions for COVID cases have climbed to 25 a day in King County, a 54% increase from last week. Hospitalizations are a lagging indicator, spiking two to four weeks after a new case surge.
Many area hospitals are once again at or over capacity. A combination of acute staffing shortages, a return to everyday life, increasing accidents and work-related injuries, and hundreds of patients who can’t be released from the hospital because there aren’t enough transitional and long-term care facilities, has created a perfect storm. The bump in new COVID cases is adding to the problem.
COVID transmission remains low in outdoor, open-air settings. A driver of the increasing number of new COVID cases and hospitalizations has been the region’s cool and wet non-existent spring, keeping people indoors and windows closed. Even with the first days of summer here, the high temperature in Seattle struggled to reach 58 degrees on July 3rd.
While BA.5 is on track to become the next dominant strain in Washington, a new strain is already taking over on the other side of the planet. Omicron BA 2.75 was sequenced in India and is rapidly spreading across the region.
[SEATTLE, Wash.] – (MTN) COVID cases have steadily increased in King County, moving the region to the CDC’s medium threat level as test positivity, new cases, and hospitalizations rising again.
COVID variant Omicron has split off into a number of variants, with the current surge being driven by BA.2. According to the University of Washington Virology Lab, 85% of new cases are BA.2, so-called “stealth Omicron” and the statewide case positivity rate is 12.4%. In King County, test positivity has grown from 3.2% on March 16 to 11.6% on April 17. Hospitalizations have increased over 100% in the last week, growing from an average of 32 people countywide a week ago to 70. Area hospitals are not strained by the current round of infections, and regional numbers aren’t near the levels seen from the Delta surge in the fall of 2021, and the Omicron surge in January 2022.
The increase started four days after the Washington State Department of Health lifted the mask mandate on March 12 and companies such as Microsoft announced a return to the office.
A combination of relaxed public safety measures and waning vaccine and disease acquired immunity are contributing to the new increase. The Omicron BA.2 variant has a much higher reinfection rate than other variants, estimated at 10% to 15%, and is more contagious than the original Omicron strain.
CDC guidelines recommend that a region at COVID-19 Community Level Medium (yellow) recommends that those at high risk for severe COVID to discuss with their primary healthcare provider whether they should wear a mask. Additionally, anyone who is exhibiting COVID systems should get a PCR test.
Common symptoms of Omicron BA.2 are somewhat different from the original, Alpha and Delta variants. Additional symptoms to look for include:
Runny nose
Sore throat – moderate to severe
Diarrhea, gastric upset, particularly in children
Fatigue that is profound and severe, particularly in children
This is in addition to more typical COVID symptoms that include fever and chills, muscle and body aches, dry cough, shortness of breath/difficulty breathing, headache, and a sudden loss of taste and/or smell.
[OLYMPIA, Wash.] – (MTN) Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced that the indoor mask mandate will end for most locations, including schools, on March 12. The change was made after the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) updated national guidelines on Feb. 25, and the rapidly declining new case and hospitalization numbers in Washington state.
King County Executive Dow Constantine announced that the county would follow the state, and end its indoor mask mandate on Mar. 12.
The CDC also updated guidance removing mask requirements in schools and on buses and vans in counties with low and moderate transmission for COVID. At the time of the updated guidelines, over 70% of United States counties qualified. Masks will still be required in certain locations in compliance with CDC guidelines.
Public transporation such as buses, subways, trains, airplanes, ferries, and related transit terminals
Hospitals, nursing homes, dentists offices, and other medical facilities
Workers and residents of community living facilities such as jails, prisons, halfway houses, and homeless shelters
The requirement to show proof of vaccination at large events and indoor venues such as restaurants, bars, theaters, and gyms, is set to expire tonight. The ending of so-called vaccine passports comes two years to the day after the first Washington state COVID death was announced.
Over the last two years, 11,866 Washingtonians have lost their lives due to COVID. Nationally, 950,000 have died, equal to the entire population of Fort Worth, Texas, or almost equal to the population of Delaware.
The first official COVID death of a United States resident from community transmission happened on Feb. 26, 2020, during the nation’s first super spreader event, at Lifecare Center in Kirkland. The death was reported on Feb. 29 and EvergreenHealth Kirkland was overwhelmed with patients two weeks later.
New cases remain high from a historical standpoint according to the Washington State Department of Health (WSDoH). On Monday, WSDoH reported 241 new cases per 100,000 residents, down 85% of the Omicron peak in mid-January. Almost 81% of residents five and older have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, and 73.2% are fully vaccinated.
[OLYMPIA, Wash.] – (MTN) Governor Jay Inslee announced the statewide mask mandate in public schools, and most indoor venues will end on Mar. 21. The announcement came a day after King County officials announced the requirement to show proof of vaccination at restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues will end on Mar. 1.
Gov. Inslee showed a forecast that indicates that on Mar. 21, new COVID-related hospital admissions would drop to a level that is sustainable for medical facilities.
Additionally, the state requirement to show proof of vaccination at large events will end on Mar. 1.
Counties, municipalities, and businesses reserve the right to require mask wear or show proof of vaccination after the mandates expire next month.
COVID-related hospitalizations are down 35% from the record-setting January peak. During the week of Jan. 16, hospitals teetered on the edge of moving to crisis standards of care. the pause on non-urgent surgical procedures announced in January, expired today.
[OLYMPIA, Wash.] – (MTN) Governor Jay Inslee announced that the outdoor mask mandate would end on Feb. 18 and that it is, “no longer a matter of if, but when,” for the end of the indoor mandate.
The outdoor mask mandate was implemented on Sept. 13, as hospitalizations for the delta variant peaked in Washington. The requirement applied to large outdoor events with 500 or more people. Enforcement of the outdoor mask requirement was close to non-existent, with Lumen Field full of maskless fans through the fall and early winter, cheering for the Seattle Seahawks.
Data has shown that COVID transmission rates are significantly lower in outdoor settings and areas with excellent air circulation.
The statewide indoor mask mandate, that was brought back on Aug. 19 still stands. Gov. Inslee said that he was taking a wait-and-see approach, and would revisit ending the indoor mask mandate as early as next week. California, Illinois, New York, and Oregon have ended or announced they are ending indoor mask mandates this week.
Washington repealed almost all COVID restrictions on Jun. 30 as hospitals emptied of COVID patients and the statewide vaccination rate for residents 16 and over approached 70%. Less than two months later the state was facing record hospitalizations due to the more transmissible and virulent Delta variant, just as school was restarting.
Washington never fully exited the delta wave when the first omicron case was detected on Nov. 29. More than a half-dozen high school wrestling matches on Dec. 4 in Pierce and Thurston Counties became super spreader events. New cases of omicron exploded from the Canada border to the Columbia River flooding Western Washington hospitals during the last week of December. The combination of holiday travelers and lower vaccination rates in Eastern Washington created a secondary wave in January.
New COVID cases are declining across the state and hospitalizations have peaked on both sides of the Cascades. Despite the improvement, there are still over 1,700 COVID patients in Washington hospitals according to the Washington State Hospital Association.
With the hospital situation improving, the statewide pause of “non-urgent” surgical procedures announced last month, will come to an end on Feb. 17. When Gov. Inslee announced the 28-day pause on Jan. 20, many hospitals had already taken the extraordinary measure independently.
At the peak of the omicron wave, Washington medical facilities were brought to the brink of collapse. The darkest days were during the week of Jan. 16. In an unprecedented move during the COVID pandemic, a handful of patients were transferred by aircraft out of Western Washington to Eastern Washington and Montana hospitals. On Jan. 19, the demand for hospital beds was outstripping all available resources.
To avoid moving the state to crisis standards of care, the Washington Medical Coordination Center (WMCC) implemented a protocol called guaranteed-acceptance hospital rotation. During guaranteed-acceptance hospital rotation, larger regional hospitals took turns taking accepting transfer patients and finding some way to care for them. By Jan. 23, the peak of the crisis had passed, and the protocol was ended.
The WMCC, which operates out of Harborview Medical Center, provides assistance to hospitals that need to move patients when the institution has exhausted all other options.
In Idaho, new COVID cases peaked earlier this week with test positivity reaching 34%. Southern Idaho has been operating under crisis standards of care for almost a month, and some patients from the Boise area have been arriving in Eastern Washington hospitals. Historically Alaska, Idaho, Eastern Oregon, and Western Montana have relied on Washington hospitals to take in critically ill patients and specialized cases.
The positivity rate for COVID tests in Washington has dropped to 18%, according to the University of Washington Virology Lab. So-called stealth omicron has been detected in Washington, but there has not been an increase in cases.
Virologists believe that between the statewide vaccination rate and how transmissible the Omicron variant is, many residents have some degree of immunity. The United States Centers for Disease Control is not supportive of repealing mask mandates because nationally new case rates remain extremely high, with over 110,000 hospitalized COVID patients.
UPDATED: Feb. 5, 2022 8:45 PM PST: Additional information has been found implying Testative is attempting to purge their connections to Northshore Clinical Labs.
[ELKTON, Md.] – (MTN) A pop-up COVID testing site in Elkton, Maryland run by Testative was ordered closed on Friday according to local reports. An anonymous source reported the site had deficiencies including not having a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) number. The closure order came in the early afternoon on Friday. The operators of Testative appear to have tried to cover up the closure, by making edits to the Google Maps listing.
Testative began opening COVID test sites on Jan. 21 in multiple states, just days after the Center for COVID Control and FCTS shuttered a nationwide network of testing locations. The Center for COVID Control is under multiple investigations by several state attorneys general, the FBI, and was sued by Washington state on Feb. 1. The company ended operations on Feb. 4 and laid off approximately 150 employees. Northshore Clinical Labs, which ran FCTS, is also the subject of numerous investigations.
On Feb. 2, the Google Maps listing for the Elkton, Maryland site listed it was run by Testative. The QR code scanned to start the testing process brought patients to a Lab Care, LLC intake page. On Feb. 5, the day after the closure order, the listing had been altered. Information claims the site is run by FCTS and lists freecovidtestingsite.com as the URL. FCTS has been defunct since mid-January and the URL goes to a page under site maintenance.
The phone number was not edited. In a story published on Feb. 2, researchers identified the phone number is used by Northshore Clinical Labs, Lab Care, LLC, and Testative. It was also connected to FCTS prior to its closure.
Google Maps listing for the Free PCR & Rapid Testing Elkton, Maryland site run by Testative, on February 2, 2022 listing the Testative website URL and a phone number shared by Testative, FCTS, Lab Care, LLC, and Northshore Clinical Labs
Google Maps listing for the Free PCR & Rapid Testing Elkton, Maryland site run by Testative, on February 5, 2022 listing the site run by FCTS and showing the URL for Free Covid Tesiting Site, formerly run by Northshore Clinical Labls – the phone number shared by Testative, FCTS, Lab Care, LLC, and Northshore Clinical Labs
Google Mapls listing for the Testative site in Elkton, Maryland on February 5, 2022, with the previous Testative company images deleted from the listing
Several key management employees of Testative are linked to FCTS. Some have attempted to purge their social media and online history in what appears to be an attempt to conceal their prior connections. A number of employees involved have relocated to Newark, Delaware from the Chicago area, or maintain dual addresses.
On Jan. 22, Testative created a Facebook page listed as Testative-FCTS, which was included in the Malcontent News story on Feb. 2. Testative has since deleted the page, but the graphics are still available through Google Images. An image uploaded to Facebook on Feb. 2 has FCTS branding and logo.
Image archive from the Facebook page for Testative-FCTS, deleted after the Malcontent News story, shows graphics uploaded on February 2, 2022 had FCTS branding – FCTS was run by Northshore Clinical Labs
Testative has partnered with Lab Care, LLC to process COVID test samples. That lab is owned by Nikola Nozinic, the co-founder of Chicago-based Lab Elite. Lab Elite and Lab Care, LLC are not under any investigation.
Lab Elite and Lab Care, LLC use technology and registration services provided by O’Hare Clinical Labs Services, through a company called OCL LIS. Francisco “Frank” Perez maintains multiple LinkedIn profiles, including one for OCL Labs and an additional one for OCL LIS. The phone number of OCL LIS is the same number for OCL Laboratory Service, which provides in-home medical testing, while the fax number for OCL Laboratory Services is a legacy number for O’Hare Clinical Labs. O’Hare Clinical Lab Services, the parent company, is currently under investigation by the state of Illinois, and received a rating of “immediate jeporady” in three categories after the most recent CMS audit.
Private labs can bill $100 per PCR test processed and government reimbursement for diagnostic testing for COVID-19 is reimbursed at the published rate by the testing provider. The CARES Act put no limit on how much can be charged for the administration of a COVID test. The Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) has paused enrollment of new providers until Feb. 11. The COVID Uninsured Claim website says that enrollment is undergoing a “process review.”
Over $500 million in reimbursements have been provided to the Center for COVID Control (Doctors Clinical Lab), Northshore Clinical Labs (FCTS), O’Hare Clinical Lab Services, and Lab Elite.
[CHICAGO, Il.] – (MTN) Embattled COVID testing labs Northshore Clinical Labs and O’Hare Clinical Lab Services continue to operate while under intense scrutiny from state officials. The publicly facing testing entities, Center for COVID Control and FCTS, shut down in mid-January due to multiple misconduct allegations. A new testing company called Testative started operations on Jan. 22, with strong indications they are connected to FCTS and Northshore Clinical Labs. At one Testative location in Illinois, the company has partnered with Lab Care, LLC., owned by Chicago-based Lab Elite.
Lab Elite (also listed as LabElite) was started by Nikola Nozinic and Zishan Alvi in late 2020. The company has a one-star rating with the Better Business Bureau and four complaints lodged against them. All four complaints claim they received PCR tests but never got results and have no response from the company on the status of their tests. LabElite also maintains two Facebook pages, one with 11 one-star reviews.
The same Facebook page has a promotional video showing operations at its Chicago lab located at 5820-5824 North Northwest Highway. The video was shot on Aug. 21 and shows multiple violations of United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) lab and testing protocols.
According to CDC guidelines, labs that test COVID samples must adhere to Biosafety level 2 standards (BSL2). The first requirement is secured access to the test lab with an automatically closing door. The video shows the door to the lab open to the reception area. There are no sinks or handwashing stations in the video, and images on Google do not show any sinks in the lab area.
At least two unmasked workers are shown, including one person in a designated BSL2 area wearing no protective equipment. Inches away, a person appears to be handling COVID test samples. Another person is shown administering a COVID test without wearing eye protection and using an ill-fitting mask that is not N-95 rated.
LabProspects, a company that maintains a list of medical labs across the United States, indicates that Lab Elite can process 36,000 samples a month. The database also shows that LabElite is affiliated with O’Hare Clinical Labs, a company currently under state investigation. LabProspects does not indicate how the two labs are affiliated.
The city’s announcement reported that Testative is partnered with Lab Care, LLC, and listed the website labcarellc.com. Using online social intelligence and searching using the phone number for Lab Care LLC, the number is connected to a company called JNZ Medical, LLC. JNZ Medical has an NPI number of 1851056493 assigned to Nozinic on Nov. 8. The company also has a CDC CLIA number of 14D2242519 under the name LabCare. A search of corporate and LLC records through the Illinois Secretary of State shows that Nozinic, the co-owner of Lab Elite, acquired JNZ Medical on Mar. 14, 2020.
The websites for Lab Care, LLC and Lab Elite, are identical, beyond color changes and the company branding. Both companies use a non-HIPAA compliant version of Jotform to schedule appointments.
OCL LIS hosts the intake form for Lab Care, LLC. The Chicago-based company provides consulting services, automation, process and workflow, and payment services for labs through forms.oclsolutions.com. OCL LIS states they provide HIPAA Compliance, but a review of the Lab Care, LLC page source code shows the intake form was built using Jotform.
There is nothing to indicate that OCL LIS is operating in bad faith, and the initials OCL are coincidental. OCL LIS does not have any connection to O’Hare Clinical Lab Services or its OCL branded test locations.
The disclaimer for Lab Care, LLC uses identical language as the now-defunct Center for COVID Control, including requiring the waiving of privacy and HIPAA rights.
Lab Care has a presence on Facebook that has become more active in the last two weeks. It also has an Instagram account that hasn’t been updated in almost a month.
Lab Elite, Lab Care LLC, and their co-owners Nozinic and Alvi are not under investigation by any state or federal authority. USA Today reported the company received over $80 million from the federal government for COVID testing and other services. Lab Care LLC operates under a different CDC CLIA number and business name and has not received federal reimbursement. The company has come under fire for questionable business practices and increasing consumer complaints.
In Philadelphia, pop-up testing sites appeared for Lab Elite with signage claiming the company was receiving funds from FEMA. People who stood in line to get tested reported staff asked for social security numbers. Nozinic told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “This is a complete s — show. We don’t ask for Social Security, ever.”
Nozinic blamed a subcontractor for the issues. Lab Elite closed the sites and stated they would not return to Philadelphia.
Residents of Berwyn, Illinois, are fuming online about Lab Elite’s performance. The city initially hired Northshore Clinical Labs in 2020 to provide COVID testing and fired the company in December 2020. Lab Elite was contracted, and the test site has a 2.6 rating on Google. In Facebook groups, community members are questioning the amount of due diligence the city took in choosing both providers.
To say that the Chicago-area private COVID testing landscape has turned into the wild west would be an understatement. In the last 72 hours, several COVID testing companies have arisen or expanded, filling the vacuum created by the closures of the Center for COVID Control and FCTS.
In addition to the expanding test providers, labs are growing too. Onsite Lab Corp and United Diagnostics Labs, LLC, which formed in June 2021, provide lab services for the expanding portfolio of Chicago Medical Brigade locations. The LinkedIn profile of Ike Khan, COO of United COVID Control and Chicago COVID Control, indicates that the associated lab can process up to 5,000 tests a day. Onsite Lab Corp shares space with Chicago Medical Brigade and is located in a 2,500 square foot former veterinary clinic in Evanston, Illinois.
With the official closure of the Center for COVID Control happening today, the rush to fill the testing gaps will continue. With it, an embarrassment of riches awaits for those with an NPI and CLIA number in what is now a more favorable business climate with COVID cases on the decline.
[CHICAGO, Il.] – (MTN) State and federal investigators made January a rough month for the Center for COVID Control, Doctors Clinical Laboratories, Northshore Clinical Labs, FCTS, and O’Hare Clinical Lab Services. Dozens of consumer complaints, serious deficiencies uncovered in CMS audits, and multiple investigations at a state and federal level have forced the cadre of Chicago-based companies to terminate contracts and shutter COVID testing locations. Just days after Northshore Clinical Labs shut down FCTS in mid-January, it appears the testing sites are reorganizing under a new business name.
An investigation by Malcontent News has discovered that the Chicago COVID testing machine is possibly being reborn as Testative.
Free PCR and Rapid COVID Tests jointly promoted by FCTS and Northshore Clinical Labs
A Jan. 5 Chicago Tribune article reinforced this transparent relationship. The newspaper visited a testing site operated by NorthShore Clinical Labs using the FCTS name at 321A Harlem Ave in Forest Park, Illinois on Jan. 4. The Tribune was investigating allegations of delayed and missing COVID test results.
The first domino to fall for the Chicago COVID testing cadre was the Center for COVID Control (CCC) and Doctor Clinical Laboratories. A story on Jan. 10 by WINK in Ft. Myers, Florida raised questions about the operation and caught national attention. On Jan. 14 CCC suspended its test sites for retraining. On Jan. 20 they pushed backed their reopening date and after the FBI opened a criminal investigation, the company announced it was closing its doors on Feb 4.
On Jan. 17, the website for Northshore Clinical Labs announced it was terminating all “third-party operation sites” relationships. At the same time, the website for FCTS, freecovidtestingsite.com, was reduced to a single page declaring the site is under maintenance.
The remains of the FCTS website are still available on the Internet Archive, through scans completed from Dec. 20 to Jan. 5. The contact information for FCTS lists Northshore Clinical Labs of Chicago, Illinois, as the parent company.
Using online social intelligence, researchers searched using the FCTS phone number listed on the now-shuttered website – 888-452-3287. Instead of the phone number resolving back to Northshore Clinical Labs or FCTS, it is connected to a new company – Testative. The number is also attached to a COVID testing site in Elkton, Maryland, at 1653 Elkton Road. The previous FCTS site was at 1657 Elkton Road, in the same parking lot as the new Testative location. The photos associated with the Testative site are for FCTS.
Similar results were found for a former FCTS testing site at 3751 Island Ave, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The phone number listed for the site is for FCTS, but the website is listed as Testative. While our research team was reviewing the information, a potentially fake review was added to the location by someone using the alias of YZ Hatim. Two hours earlier, the same person left a five-star review for Testative in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee location has two reviews, left almost simultaneously, by YZ Hatim and Belaal L.
A researcher with Malcontent News called the legacy phone number for FCTS. The number was answered with “customer service” and did not identify the company. Our researcher told the person they were waiting for test results from Northshore Clinical Labs. The representative stated rapid results could take up to two days and a PCR test could take up to five days. Our researcher responded they had waited for nine days already. The representative said they would find a supervisor who could help and put the researcher on hold. After a 25 minute wait, the researcher hung up.
Within a minute of hanging up, a call came in from a different phone number, 800-365-3438. The caller didn’t leave a voicemail, but a text from the same number arrived seconds later.
Text received calling a phone number associated with FCTS and Testative, asking for test results from Northshore Clinical Labs
“First, last name: Date of birth: Gender: Confirmation number: Date of Collection: Verbal Rapid results: Phone number: Email address: Location of testing-pls provide us the details.”
Text received from the phone number for testative after calling the fcts phone number and asking for test results from northshore clinical labs
Researchers used online social intelligence using the phone number 800-365-3438, and uncovered it is the phone number for Testative. The same number is listed at multiple testing locations for Testative on SolvHealth, Google Maps, and the Testative website.
Reviewing the FCTS and Testative websites found more in common than potential links to Northshore Clinical Labs and a common phone number. Much of the text and claims on the website are identical. For example, the descriptions for Rapid Testing, PCR Testing, and Workplace Testing (called Corporate Business Testing on the FCTS website archive) are for all intent and purposes the same, with only the company name changed.
“Testative offers easy employee testing services for any size business. We are partnered with over 1000 businesses around America. Our goal with this type of testing is to ensure workplace safety, and making employees feel comfortable coming to work. Testative will bring PCR Testing kits to businesses and test all your employees. Our process doesn’t disturb the workflow.”
The language for PCR testing states, “Our process is easy. Just walk in, or drive up to any of our locations, and give us a call. Test results are typically available online via email within 24-72 business hours of taking the test.“
While rapid testing also shares the same description, “Rapid testing is a quick process and gets you results almost instantly. The rapid testing process isn’t 100% accurate, so we would highly recommend getting a PCR Test done as well. Get your Rapid testing results as quick as 15 minutes verbally.“
Malcontent News has archived web pages and social media sites highlighted in this story as a permanent archive
The Testative website is built on WordPress and has numerous technical issues and mistakes. The website has no listed privacy or HIPAA policy. The site goes to great lengths to obscure who owns and manages the website or the company’s relationship with any test lab. A search on Open Corporates and the Illinois Secretary of State records found no corporate listing for Testative. An ICANN search identified GoDaddy as the DNS provider.
Another researcher called the phone number for Testative. The call went to a voicemail box, and the researcher did not leave a message. Less than a minute later, the number called back. The researcher told the caller they were trying to find test results from the Testative Milwaukee location. The customer support representative said they would send a text requesting additional information. A few minutes later, the identical text from the earlier interaction with the legacy FCTS phone number arrived.
Searching LinkedIn for Testative located a single employee – Khaalid Latifi. Latifi has listed himself as the Director of Operations for Testative since November 2020. Latifi’s former employer is FCTS where he was also a Director of Operations. He describes his role at Testative as, “Worked with other team members to establish testing locations across America. Implemented an electronic HR system to efficiently establish 100+ employees.“
It appears Latifi changed the name of his employer on LinkedIn instead of showing a change in employment, and indicates the time between both companies has run contiguously. A phone call to Latifi went unanswered, and there was no response when we went to press.
Latifi’s Facebook page has not been updated in months and does indicate he is unemployed, in contrast to his LinkedIn page. It also shows he has a brother, Belaal Latifi, who coincidentally has the same first name and last initial as a person leaving positive online reviews for Testative on Google.
Our research team found other websites affiliated with the FCTS phone number 888-452-3287, including Texas COIVD Testing and UR1stop Medical.
Texas COVID Testing has a near-identical logo to FCTS and uses the same language as Testative and FCTS. The site claims Texas COVID Testing has Walmart, Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, and ASM Global as corporate clients, claims to have 300 locations nationwide, lists the same phone number formerly used by FCTS, and is connected to Northshore Clinical Labs.
Texas COVID Testing has a similar logo to FCTS and lists the same phone number previously used by FCTS
The site lists two locations in Houston on 3222 Hillcroft Street and 9730 Southwest Freeway. According to an archive of the Center for COVID Control website, the 3222 Hillcroft Street location was a planned site for the company before their testing suspension in mid-January. A former employee of the Center for COVID Control alleges that one test site briefly sent test samples to Northshore Clinical Labs. A company spokesperson for CCC denied that claim.
The UR1stop Medical website has identical language, blog entries, and errors the archived FCTS website has. The address is to a former electronics store under a similar name, and the FAQ on the UR1stop Medical website provides information on electronics and shipping.
UR1stop Medical website lists the same phone number for FCTS, has the same footer, the same blogs, and the same date errors as the archived FCTS website
Neither website has a relevant privacy or HIPAA policy posted, lists an NPI number, or provides a CDC CLIA number for the labs they are affiliated with. None of the test sites listed resolve to an archive of FCTS sites or current Testative sites.
Testative created a Facebook page on Jan. 22, five days after Northshore Clinical Labs pulled the plug on third-party test sites and FCTS. The Facebook business page is Testative FCTS, a Medical Lab, and uses the identical artwork and color scheme from Northshore Clinical Labs.
We attempted to contact Northshore Clinical Labs and inquire about their relationships with FCTS, Testative, Texas COVID Testing, and UR1stop Medical, but we received no response.
While Northshore Clinical Labs faced growing allegations of malfeasance by clients, municipalities, school systems, and regulators, the company continued expanding operations. The expansion went unabated even after a Dec. 29 CMS audit gave Northshore an imminent jeopardy rating in three categories.
Prior to falling under the watchful eye of investigators, Northshore Clinical Labs used press releases to enhance its SEO and tout its continued expansion. By early January, the company shifted to a quieter approach. They used social media such as Facebook and promotion from local governments, companies, and schools. Although the approach lowered the public profile in the face of a growing scandal, the use of social media has left a trail of outraged clients waiting for test results.
The day after Northshore Clinical Labs announced they were ending all third-party relationships, it opened up a mass test site in Kissimmee, Florida, just outside the gates of Disneyworld. The location is backed by Osceola County and less than three weeks later, social media is filled with complaints about late, missing, and false rest results. The testing site is still operating today.
On Jan. 22. Northshore opened sites in Las Vegas two weeks after opening tests sites in Reno, Nevada, including the University of Nevada Reno (UNR). The Nevada Division of Health and Human Services opened a formal investigation into Northshore on Jan. 24, after multiple complaints emerged in the Reno area. A report by KOLO 8 News indicated an independent review of approximately 200 negative PCR test results from Northshore were actually positive. Washoe County officials suspended PCR testing by Northshore but permitted the company to continue rapid testing. Other allegations include improper testing procedures, dirty test facilities, untrained staff, and reusing PPE such as gloves.
On Feb. 1, UNR terminated its relationship with Northshore, citing “the institution’s dissatisfaction with Northshore’s service in helping to conduct on-campus COVID-19 testing for students, faculty and staff.”
In the midst of the ongoing investigations and quiet expansion, Northshore Clinical Labs told reporters and state investigators last week that earlier problems were due to unforeseen demand. In a statement to CBS Chicago 2, a spokesperson said, “No lab could have handled” the increase in cases they saw in December.”
The company recently claimed it has processed over five-million tests, which would require more equipment and staff than it appears to possess. Block Club Chicago reported that Northshore has received more than $154 million in public funds from the CDC as reimbursement for COVID testing. If both figures are accurate, taxpayers provided Northshore with $30.80 for every test they provided. Reimbursement is done by the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as part of the CARES Act passed by the Trump Administration in March 2020. This would be in addition to money billed to insurance companies, third-party partners, individual cash payments for expedited testing services, and workplace contracts.
Northshore Clinical Labs is in no way affiliated with NorthShore University Health System or North Shore Medical Labs. Testative does not have locations in Washington state at the time of publication, but a map on its website indicates they plan to expand into Western and Eastern Washington. Northshore Clinical Labs denies having any connection with Doctors Clinical Labs and Center for COVID Control. Washington State Attorney General Robert Ferguson sued the Center of COVID Control in King County District Court on Feb. 1 for providing invalid, false, and delayed COVID-19 test results to Washingtonians, or sometimes providing no results at all.
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