The new machines will run up to 210 combined tests each day and return results in 75 minutes.

Thank you to everyone who donated! This gift match has officially ended. If you would like to make a general donation to support Humber in the fight against COVID-19 click here.

Upper Crust has announced that they will match donations for new COVID-19 testing machines at Humber River Hospital, up to $100,000. Their goal is to purchase three new KingFisher Duo Prime instruments, which will run up to 210 combined tests each day and return results in 75 minutes.

“We really want to make a difference,” says Carmela Serebryany, President of Upper Crust. “Increased access to rapid testing is going to protect our community, give peace of mind to our healthcare workers, and help staff use PPE more efficiently.”

Like many hospitals, Humber currently refers tests to Toronto Public Health Labs where the turnaround time is 1-6 days. Healthcare workers who need tests stay home for days in self-isolation waiting for their results. With these new KingFisher Duo Prime instruments, the team at Humber will be able to reduce wait times, prioritize “stat” patients and frontline staff testing without delay, and increase access to care for the community when other areas of the hospital, such as surgery and the clinics, begin to re-open.

“Being able to run 210 tests a day with results in 75 minutes is amazing,” says Carmela. “This is going to help us prevent spread in our community in a targeted way.”

Upper Crust has been a supporter of Humber River Hospital Foundation since the new Hospital was being built, and Carmela currently serves on the Humber River Hospital Foundation Board of Directors, where she keeps her finger on the pulse. As the COVID-19 crisis escalated, Upper Crust began giving back by providing baked goods for food banks. Now they are setting out to make a palpable difference in increasing people’s access to care.

Some of the Upper Crust team at last year’s holiday party. “We really want to make a difference,” says Carmela Serebryany, President of Upper Crust.

Upper Crust has created a personal fundraising page where they are matching all gifts towards the KingFisher Duo Prime instruments up to $100,000. This match is a timely and crucial contribution to Humber River Hospital Foundation’s multi-million dollar fundraising campaign to fund Humber’s response to the coronavirus today and well into the future.

“Thank you so much to all the frontline workers who are doing an amazing job of leading this fight,” says Carmela. “This is the greatest collective threat that we will probably face in our lifetime, we have to try to take care of each other, do our part, and do what we can to beat COVID-19.”