Dear Families,

Advanced Pediatrics is very sorry to inform everyone in the practice that the winter storm catastrophe that is paralyzing much of the South of the United States has reached a level severe enough to stop even FEDERAL EXPRESS!

Our lab that processed all the COVID-19 swabs we use to test your children is ready and able to process our swabs, but Federal Express cannot deliver them because of the weather.

This of course means test results, which we have been pleased to provide within 48 hours of testing, are now delayed.

We were concerned on Monday when the storms threatened the process, and fully expected a company as vast as Federal Express to find a path to deliver their goods by Tuesday, or at the latest Wednesday, but to a degree that frankly is shocking, the weather has only proven more of a problem this week as time goes on.

This morning we were informed by Federal Express that they were not doing any deliveries today, the first time I know of that this company has been so blocked from doing their job.  We have talked to our lab, they remain ready to test as soon as swabs are delivered, and are working hard with Federal Express to find a path forward.

What this means of course is that for yet another day, there will be no COVID-19 test results from Advanced Pediatrics.

We are of course highly confident that Federal Express will find a way to resume their business.  The South will of course not remain snowbound and frozen.  But they are today.

In the meantime, should your child(ren) require an answer on COVID today or tomorrow, we recommend contacting BowTie Medical which can do local testing by appointment- https://bowtiemedical.com/.

We profoundly apologize for this terrible inconvenience, we know how important knowing your child’s COVID-19 status is, and are so sorry for any delays in finding out.

We are working with Federal Express and our lab continuously and will know as soon as they do when the deliveries get rolling again and the results come into our hands.

And let us keep the people of our fellow communities of Texas and the South in our minds as they find a path to be released from the grip of this terrible, deadly storm.

With my best,
Dr. Arthur Lavin