VALENCIA, Calif. (KNX) — State officials said they have not been able to substantiate whistle-blower complaints that a Coronavirus testing lab in Los Angeles County destroyed data and documents.
Prior to the findings released this week, the Valencia Branch Laboratory (VBL) underwent two inspections by California Department of Public health. In the first — which is required for all new labs in the state, inspectors found “significant deficiencies at the lab” when it opened in December.
The second followed a complaint investigation on Feb. 7, 2021, CDPH said in a statement, explaining that this inspection was related to media allegations “regarding the training and qualifications of staff” in the lab and reports regarding the destruction of evidence and mishandling of specimens.
In an update to both inspections Tuesday, the department said all both inspections are now closed and no state penalties will be imposed.
“All deficiencies were addressed and there was no impact to the integrity of the tests processed at the laboratory,” the department said in a statement.
“Specifically, in regard to the complaint investigation, Laboratory Field Services was not able to substantiate the local media outlets reporting that there was destruction of documents and data. There is no evidence to support these allegations.”
In February, state Health and Human Services issued a statement explaining a number of test corrections at the lab. Of the more than 1.5 million tests performed by that time, the department said the Valencia Branch had to correct at least 60 samples and was unable to test about 250 “due to lab errors.”
Health and Human Service Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said at the time that “one incorrect test result is one too many” but explained that the $25 million lab was opened on an accelerated timeline to address a critical need for COVID-19 testing.
“That capacity arrived just in time for our unprecedented winter surge,” Ghaly said. “The deficiencies identified by Laboratory Field Services, although they are taken very seriously, do reflect that we established the [lab] on an accelerated time frame, and we knew that there might be growing pains that would require work and process improvements.”
Despite the deficiencies found in first inspections, the state said the VBL has made positive strides in the community it serves — by increasing testing availability in at-risk communities.
“To date the lab has performed more than 5.5 million tests on samples from a network of more than 4,700 specimen collection sites developed with churches, schools, clinics, essential workplaces and community-based organizations,” CDPH said in a statement.
“This created deeper and wider access to testing. Roughly 62% of tests performed for PCR only specimens are among racial minorities with 32% in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods based on the California Health Places Index (HPI).”
On average the VBL’s median turnaround time is 36 hours from collection to result and currently accounts for more than 10% of all testing done in the past several weeks - while delivering more results than any other lab.
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