H.R. No. 1393
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic,
the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, the
Amarillo Pathology Group, LLP, and APG's Physicians Preferred
Laboratory, Ltd., came together to address the urgent community
need for accurate and timely COVID-19 testing; and
WHEREAS, The demand for diagnostic testing was especially
acute in March 2020 and the months that followed, as communities
worked to track and assess the spread of the novel coronavirus; at
that time, few public health laboratories were equipped to process
the number of tests that were being requested, which led to the
formation of a unique partnership between the Texas A&M Veterinary
Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) and St. Joseph Health;
TVMDL, which routinely tests herds and flocks of animals for a
variety of diseases, lent its high-throughput equipment and
laboratory space to St. Joseph Health staff, allowing them to begin
performing a higher volume of PCR tests at its College Station
laboratory in late April 2020; and
WHEREAS, Knowing that the need for testing was also critical
in the Texas Panhandle, TVMDL went on to partner with the Amarillo
Pathology Group's Physicians Preferred Laboratory (APG-PPL) to
provide this same service at its Amarillo laboratory; through this
partnership, APG-PPL was able to perform up to 600 COVID-19 tests
each day and to deliver results to patients from 24-48 hours after
specimens were collected; the laboratory proved to be a crucial
asset to the region at this challenging time, and by fulfilling the
need for testing during periods of high community spread, it helped
local governments and businesses to make informed policy decisions;
in February 2021, TVMDL and APG-PPL were recognized with Texas A&M
AgriLife's Partnership Award; and
WHEREAS, A number of individuals were instrumental in
establishing the initial partnership between TVMDL and APG-PPL,
including TVMDL's director Dr. Bruce Akey and associate agency
director Dr. Amy Swinford and APG-PPL's medical director
Dr. Robert Todd II; also vital to this undertaking were APG-PPL
administrators who helped secure federal approval for the clinic,
Charlyn Snow and Heidi Dorman, as well as the Clinical Laboratory
Improvements Amendment (CLIA) medical director, Dr. Andrew Hoot;
and
WHEREAS, Other TVMDL professionals, Dr. Kiril Dimitrov,
Dr. Pam Ferro, Dr. Megan Schroeder, and Dr. Owais Khan, handled
such responsibilities as ensuring the accuracy of test results and
securing testing supplies; TVMDL employees Jonatan Sanchez-Gama
and Nicholas Monday trained and assisted APG-PPL staff on the use of
the equipment, while APG-PPL employees Cliff George, Chris Kelly,
Katera Padilla, and Ashley Tarrant were tasked with delivering
human samples to the lab and performing tests; finally, a great deal
of appreciation is owed to Texas A&M AgriLife vice chancellors
Dr. Patrick J. Stover and Joe Cox and to Sandra Talton, legislative
director in the office of State Representative Four Price, for
their tremendous contributions; and
WHEREAS, The success of this collaboration is a credit to the
expertise, ingenuity, and shared commitment to service
demonstrated by all those involved in the partnership, and they are
indeed deserving of heartfelt praise for their tireless efforts;
now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas
Legislature hereby commend the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical
Diagnostic Laboratory, the Amarillo Pathology Group, LLP, and APG's
Physicians Preferred Laboratory, Ltd., for their work to ensure
timely, accurate COVID-19 testing to the Texas Panhandle at the
height of the pandemic and extend to their personnel sincere best
wishes for the future; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That official copies of this resolution be prepared
for the organizations as an expression of high regard by the Texas
House of Representatives.
Price
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 1393 was adopted by the House on May
26, 2021, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House