UI Health Care Employees
Tuberculosis skin test screening is required upon employment and annually for all employees working at UI Hospitals and Clinics and College of Medicine, public safety, tuberculosis research or with primates. The results must be read 48 to 72 hours after applying the skin test. Tuberculosis skin tests are not applied on Thursdays unless special arrangements for reading the test are made. Respirator fit testing is available to staff who require it for employment.

• Letters to clinical hospital staff are generated by Information Systems and are sent out to the employee.
• Staff members will receive written notification to report to University Employee Health Clinic for TB testing, prior to their birth month, designating the week they are to report to University Employee Health Clinic for the test.
• The staff members’ supervisor can read TB tests if training in reading skin tests has been completed. Requests for other arrangements may be made through UEHC.
• The supervisor who reads the TB test will send the results to University Employee Health Clinic via e-mail or return the completed TB reporting form by campus mail.
• Mail TB test results back to UEHC, or email to Test, TB on INFORMM or Employee-Health@uiowa.edu on Outlook.
• Pregnancy or lactation is not a contraindication to TB testing. Deferrals may be granted for special cases with presentation of a letter from the staff member’s physician.
• If the staff member has a documented history of previous positive skin tests, an annual TB test is not performed. A copy of a chest x-ray report or a chest x-ray is needed at that time. Annual symptom evaluations will be provided to all known positive TB-tested employees. Follow-up chest X-rays are performed only if symptoms are suggestive of TB.