To protect health care workers from the winter elements, Bothwell Regional Health Center has moved walk-in COVID-19 testing to a drive-thru site in the Sheep Pavilion on the Missouri State Fairgrounds from Dec. 1 through March 31.
“Since the pandemic started in early 2020, Bothwell has been offering curbside testing at the Walk-in Clinic at 10th and Winchester,” Keith Morrow, Bothwell’s vice president of clinic operations, said in a media release. “With winter weather approaching, the move to the fairgrounds will allow our health care workers to administer COVID-19 tests and be better protected from rain, snow and cold weather. We are grateful to the team at the Missouri State Fairgrounds for working with Bothwell on this move.”
No appointment is necessary and those testing at the drive-thru site and do not need a doctor’s order. Brianna Murry, LPN and BRHC director of clinic operations, said people may still receive COVID-19 testing with an appointment by their provider at the walk-in clinic in the Healing Arts Center, 3700 W. 10th St.
“The process here (at the drive-thru) is the same as pulling up to a curb, but they are just pulling through the building, and we check them in,” she noted. “We would like for them to come in Gate 6A over by the Mathewson Building, and there are signs that they can follow.”
She added people can pre-register either online or by calling the office.
“If they pre-register, they’ll get on the schedule,” she said. “If they let them know they are on the way, they (the staff) will get them checked in.
“That way when they get here, we have all their information ready to go, in hopes to not slow down the process,” she continued. “If they can be pre-registered before they get into the Sheep Pavilion, that’s best.”
For those without insurance, Murry and Amber Allain, BRHC director of clinic operations, said there is funding that will help.
“If they don’t have insurance they can still come and get tested,” Allain noted.
Allain added test results take up to 72 hours and sometimes less.
Bothwell’s COVID-19 testing hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in the Sheep Pavilion on the Missouri State Fairgrounds. One may pre-register at 660-827-7900 or at https://bit.ly/2VtpokI.
