SG Blocks to Deliver up to 7,000 COVID-19 PCR Tests Per Shift Leveraging Its State-of-the-Art D-TEC Module Lab Solutions
- Groundbreaking partnership with Memorial Healthcare to make high-quality PCR Covid-19 testing widely available to the people of Wayne County, MI. -
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
SG Blocks, Inc., (Nasdaq: SGBX) (“SG Blocks” or the “Company”) a leading designer, innovator, and fabricator of sustainable and green container-based structures, today announced that, after an extensive qualification process, it has been commissioned by Memorial Healthcare (“Memorial”) (www.MemorialHealthcare.org) to provide high-capacity PCR Covid-19 testing services to Wayne County, Michigan, to allow it to meet its aggressive goals of getting businesses, schools, state government and other essential services back to work safely and with certainty.
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D Tech 5 (Photo: Business Wire)
SG Blocks’ lab solutions are modular, portable and scalable and should enable Memorial to rapidly ramp up the number of Covid-19 tests undertaken to up to 7,000 per shift in a cost-effective and resource efficient way. Also, being local and on-site in key locations throughout Wayne County, the quality of testing services is greatly improved, not just in terms of the rapid turnaround of test results (which will be as quick as 3 hours) but also, and just as important to patients, being local improves the ease of scheduling and taking tests without the usual delays, travel and other inconveniences.
Memorial provided the upfront funding to SG Blocks to offset the initial capital expenditures of deploying the Company’s high capacity Lab Testing Hub or ‘D-Tec 5’ module together with four Swab collection stations or ‘D-Tec 1’ units located in key sites throughout Wayne County. The D-Tec 1 unit is designed to be dual-use so that it can provide the additional function as on-site Covid-19 Vaccine delivery centers in the near future, as and when supplies become available.
The D-Tec 5 Lab will not only service the swabs collected from the D-Tec 1 collection stations, but also handle overflow capacity from other labs in the Wayne County and Greater Detroit area. The D-Tec 5 Lab will also be able to handle private-pay and express customers willing to pay a premium for a rapid 3-4 hour turnaround on a PCR test and such proceeds will be used to offer heavily subsidized rates to the underserved, uninsured and high risk members of the community, such as the homeless, senior citizens, front-line care workers, etc.
D Tech 5
As well as helping to define the scope of work for the Wayne County project, Memorial will provide local support services as well as a senior in-State Lab Director for the D-Tec 5 lab module.
Brian Long, FACHE, President/CEO of Memorial Healthcare commented: “The partnership with SG Blocks allows us to offer residents of Wayne County the highest quality Covid-19 testing on the market delivered in a way that is simple, quick and very convenient. This not only improves testing acceptance and therefore increased adoption, but ensures residents get the right diagnosis the first time, allowing us to better respond with the appropriate follow-up care that they deserve.”
SG Blocks is an authorized distributor in the USA of OSANG Healthcare’s high quality 3-gene ‘PCR’ or molecular test, millions of which have been sold to governments worldwide. The use of three genes improves sensitivity and selectivity, enabling 100% accuracy and also enabling it to be used in the future, even as mutations of the SARS2-Cov-19 virus arise; 1- and 2- gene systems struggle to handle these variations leading to increased false positive/negative errors.
SG Blocks’ CLIA-certified labs will be managed through its newly formed joint venture, Clarity Mobile Venture – a partnership with Clarity Diagnostic Labs (Boca Raton, FL) to bring best-in-class point-of-care lab workflow management, staffing solutions and medical software/cloud expertise to the Company’s modular lab capabilities, to offer customers a complete end-to-end solution. The partnership also has factory-direct relationships with global suppliers of essential PCR tests, lab equipment and consumables, the cost savings and priority access benefits of which are passed onto SG Blocks’ customers.
Paul Galvin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SG Blocks added: “Our customers face overwhelming and conflicting challenges of not only ramping up Covid-19 testing in the foreseeable future, but also getting their own labs back to more regular hospital testing for the enormous backlog of non-Covid related treatments and procedures. Our joint venture provides dedicated resources and capabilities to help them to meet their Covid-19 testing goals in ways that do not interfere with their other testing priorities.”
About SG Blocks, Inc.:
SG Blocks, Inc. is a premier innovator in advancing and promoting the use of code-engineered cargo shipping containers for safe and sustainable construction. The firm offers a product that exceeds many standard building code requirements, and also supports developers, architects, builders and owners in achieving greener construction, faster execution, and stronger buildings of higher value. Each project starts with GreenSteel™, the structural core and shell of an SG Blocks building, and then customized to client specifications. For more information, visit www.sgblocks.com.
About Memorial Healthcare:
Memorial Healthcare is a 161-bed independent, community non-profit hospital and healthcare organization headquartered in Owosso, Michigan with additional locations in Genesee, Saginaw, Bay, and Clinton Counties. Services range from primary care to specialty care in areas such as neurology, orthopedic and sports medicine, robotic surgery, urology and endocrinology and more. Memorial operates over 25 satellite offices in the communities of Auburn, Chesaning, Corunna, Durand, Laingsburg, Ovid-Elsie, Owosso, Perry and St. Johns. Each year Memorial cares for nearly 30,000 emergency patients, and provides a wide range of ancillary services to over 200,000 outpatients and 3,800 inpatients. Memorial Healthcare has a medical staff of more than 200 physicians and advanced practice providers and nearly 1,500 employees, making it the largest employer in Shiawassee County. For more information, visit www.MemorialHealthcare.org.
Safe Harbor Statement
Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "predict," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend" or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and include statements regarding SGBX’s lab solutions enabling Memorial to rapidly ramp up the number of Covid-19 tests undertaken to up to 7,000 per shift in a cost-effective and resource efficient way. While SG Blocks believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations and assumptions from those set forth or implied by any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among others, the Company’s ability to construct and deliver to Memorial SGBX’s high capacity Lab Testing Hub or ‘ D-Tec 5’ module together with four Swab collection stations or ‘ D-Tech1’ units as planned, the Company’s ability to position itself for future profitability, the Company’s ability to maintain compliance with the NASDAQ listing requirements, and the other factors discussed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and its subsequent filings with the SEC, including subsequent periodic reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. The information in this release is provided only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release on account of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.
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Media:
Rubenstein Public Relations:
Christina Levin
Vice President
212-805-3029
clevin@rubensteinpr.com
Investor Relations:
ICR
Stephen Swett
(203) 682-8377
investors@sgblocks.com
Source: SG Blocks, Inc.
Released November 19, 2020