Laboratory collaboration celebrates one year

KINGSPORT — Healthcare nonprofit Heart to Heart International and local medical clinic Friends in Need Health Center Inc. are celebrating one year of collaboration on a laboratory program created amid the Hurricane Helene disaster response. Friends in Need has performed 980 lab tests for more than 700 patients in the last year with a point-of-care laboratory through Kansas-based HHI, according to a press release. While the groups' partnership began before the September 2024 hurricane, healthcare needs faced by the clinic after the disaster — plus the loss of free services from another lab — stressed the urgency of the project. The lab was installed at the clinic in April 2025. "Partnering with Heart to Heart came at a pivotal time for Friends in Need," Trey Darnell, the clinic's executive director, said in a press release. "What began as an opportunity to access timely lab results quickly became an essential partnership that eliminated costs for our patients, dramatically reduced our clinic costs, and improved continuity of care." According to the news release, the clinic's average monthly number of tests has increased fivefold. HHI said on-site testing can provide faster diagnoses and treatment plans, reducing delays and transportation burdens. In one recent case, the group said, a patient was able to receive immediate treatment for group A streptococcus undetectable to the naked eye right before the clinic closed for the day. "[Friends in Need is] an outstanding example of how point-of-care diagnostics can improve healthcare access, especially in rural and disaster-affected communities," HHI Laboratory Program Director Heidi Schutz said in the release. "We are incredibly proud of the impact this partnership has already made and look forward to continuing to support their mission."