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MILLIGAN, Tenn. (Oct. 15, 2020) — Milligan University volunteered and was approved to partner with the State of Tennessee and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in a validation study of the Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 rapid antigen test. Milligan is the first and currently the only university in Tennessee to participate in this study.
“I’m grateful for the partnership that our campus nurse Karen Maughon and health services team have established with the Tennessee Department of Health and our regional department of health to help make this opportunity possible for the Milligan community,” said Milligan President Dr. Bill Greer. “This study will further assist our ongoing efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and protect our students and employees.”
Participating in this study allows Milligan to provide rapid COVID-19 testing to symptomatic students and employees. Abbott BinaxNOW’s rapid test provides results in 15 minutes, and a secondary molecular test administered at the same time provides additional results in several days to validate the rapid test. Both tests utilize nasal swabs.
“This valuable opportunity was also made possible thanks to the instrumental roles Dr. David Reagan, former Chief Medical Officer for the Tennessee Department of Health and a specialist in epidemiology and infectious diseases advising Ballad Health, and Dr. Richard Steece, director of the Public Health Laboratory at the Tennessee Department of Health, played in making this a reality,” said Greer. “Additionally, we appreciate Andrew Hull, director of our physician assistant program, for the oversight he will provide for this COVID-19 testing program.”
To participate in this study, Milligan received a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) Certificate of Waiver from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which regulates all laboratory testing performed on humans in the United States. The Abbott BinaxNOW test has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).
For more information on Milligan’s COVID-19 protocols, visit milligan.edu/returnhome.