Parkland Health & Hospital System will take over one of Dallas County’s largest public coronavirus testing sites as the current contractor faces growing scrutiny over delayed test results.

Rocky Vaz, the city of Dallas’ director of emergency management, notified Honu Management Group on Monday that the city wanted the Washington state-based company to suspend testing Aug. 28.

The decision — less than two months after Honu began running drive-through testing for the city and county — came after local officials began investigating the company’s $14.6 million contract.

The company took over public testing after the city and county stopped working with the federal government because it was taking too long to return results to residents.

Public health officials have said that without a vaccine or another shutdown, testing and contact tracing are among the most important strategies local governments can adopt in order to stem the spread of the virus.

Site moved this month

Honu edged out industry giant Quest Diagnostics and a local firm to land the contract to test thousands for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. Honu set up its first testing site July 1 at the University of Dallas in Irving. It moved this month to Dallas College’s Eastfield campus in Mesquite. The company was testing up to 500 people per day.

City officials bypassed the usual competitive bidding rules in an effort to quickly provide testing to fight the coronavirus pandemic. A Dallas Morning News investigation earlier this month found that the city missed potential warning flags in Honu’s application.

Honu CEO Devin Thornton could not be reached for comment Tuesday. He has previously defended his company’s testing work and said his goal is to help patients while keeping health care costs low. City representatives had previously said publicly that Honu was meeting the terms of its contract.

A new internal report by Dallas County’s health department obtained by The News found that wait times for results from local Honu sites have increased markedly.

The county looked at more than 12,000 test results from Honu sites in the Dallas area over six weeks in July and August. The bulk — more than 10,000 — involved Honu’s site at the University of Dallas during July.

In the first three weeks of July, it took about two days from the time patients got tested to when they received their results. By the fourth week, that jumped to eight days on average. County officials said they believe the slowdown was driven by two factors: a delay in transporting the specimens from Dallas to the lab near Austin and a backup at the lab.

In August, the testing site relocated to the Eastfield campus in Mesquite. The county also looked at nearly 1,600 results there.

At Eastfield, it took four or more days for 97% of the samples to be collected and analyzed, and then for results to be reported.

The county also found that on average, it took residents 3.3 days to get their results from the University of Dallas. Once the site moved to Eastfield in August, that time jumped to 6.1 days.

48-72 hours after

lab arrival

The city’s contract says Honu is obligated to provide test results within 48 to 72 hours of specimens arriving at the lab. It’s unclear whether the contract also addresses transport times from the testing site to the lab. City and county officials did not immediately respond to questions from The News on Tuesday about contract details.

According to city officials, Honu transported patient samples from its testing sites to a lab near Austin using FDA-approved procedures.

Honu also has an agreement with the Texas Division of Emergency Management to provide testing at numerous sites around the state, including one at Mountain View College in Dallas. An agency spokesman did not return requests from The News on Tuesday seeking comment about the status of the contracts.

“As far as I’m concerned, I don’t care if it was the University of Dallas or Mountain View, they have not performed,” Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price said Tuesday during the commissioners’ meeting.

Late-night tweet

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins first announced the shift from Honu to Parkland in a late-night tweet Monday. A spokesman for Mayor Eric Johnson confirmed the change.

“The contract with Hanu [sic] is being cancelled,” Jenkins wrote.

A city spokeswoman clarified Tuesday that the contract has not been canceled, only “paused.”

The city of Dallas has paid Honu $1 million, according to the city’s public check register. Dallas County, meanwhile, has not paid any portion of its contract, said Darryl Martin, the county’s administrator. He told county commissioners Tuesday that his office was still reviewing the city’s contract to determine if Honu met the terms of the agreement. Martin said he would provide an update to commissioners next month.

Both the city and county planned to pay Honu using a portion of the $500 million in federal aid the local governments received from Congress as part of its coronavirus relief package.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Parkland has played a role in public testing, usually working with other agencies, including the federal government.

Parkland, the county hospital, expanded its role in testing when it took over the federal site at the Ellis Davis Field House in southern Dallas.

Like at Ellis Davis, Parkland staff will completely take over the Eastfield site, including screening for eligibility, registering patients and collecting specimens. Parkland will send the samples to ARUP Laboratories, the same private lab it uses for its other testing sites, Parkland officials said Tuesday.

Jenkins told county commissioners at their Tuesday meeting that the hospital would provide up to 250 tests per day, half of Honu’s volume. However, Jenkins said, the demand for tests has fallen and Parkland hopes to be able to adjust as needed later this year.

“We are trying to expand testing as schools start back up to anyone who wants it,” he said. “That hasn’t happened yet.”

nic.garcia@dallasnews.com,

hhacker@dallasnews.com

Twitter: @nicgarcia,

@hollyhacker