DCH announces new COVID-19 testing sites

WALLA WALLA—Walla Walla County Department of Community Health and Providence are partnering with the University of Washington Department of Medicine COVID Testing Program to open a new free COVID-19 testing site in a tent on the Providence Southgate Medical Park campus Sept. 28.

The testing tent will be located near Providence Urgent Care and will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. The University of Washington operates similar sites in Richland, Yakima and Sunnyside. Based on the experience there, it should only take around 5-10 minutes for people to park, enter the tent, get swabbed and go on their way.

People with mobility issues can park in the designated accessible parking area and call the posted phone number to receive the test without leaving their vehicles. This effort is intended to make it quick and easy to get tested with little to no waiting. Results of the test should be available in approximately 24 hours after being administered from the University of Washington.

“We are pleased to be able to partner with Providence and the University of Washington on this effort,” said Dr. Daniel Kaminsky, Walla Walla County Public Health Officer. “Making testing easier and more accessible is essential to controlling COVID-19 in our community. We also hope this will free up more capacity in area clinics and Providence St. Mary Emergency Department to care for sick individuals, rather than diverting scarce health care resources to perform testing.”

The testing site is intended for people with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms or other COVID testing needs, except for pre-procedure testing. People with more severe symptoms will be directed to Providence Urgent Care to be seen by a provider.