INDIANAPOLIS — Tens of thousands of Hoosiers will be able to be tested for COVID-19 per week under a new program set to launch in the coming days.
OptumServe Health Services, with headquarters in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and powered by Logistics Health Inc., of La Crosse, Wisconsin, will launch 20 testing sites over the next week at select Indiana National Guard armories with plans to increase to 50 sites by mid-May.
Dr. Lindsay Weaver, chief medical officer for the Indiana State Department of Health, made the announcement during Gov. Eric Holcomb’s regular daily briefing on Tuesday, April 28.
“This will give us an opportunity to do nearly 100,000 tests a month initially and test 30,000 Hoosiers a week when all sites are open,” Weaver said. “The state reached an agreement with Optum as a way to expand testing to all symptomatic Hoosiers while allowing the Indiana State Department of Health to focus on targeted testing on high-risk populations.”
Along with Indiana residents experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, the test sites will also be available to trace contacts of positive cases and residents of congregant living settings.
COVID-19 symptoms include a cough, cold symptoms, fever, shortness of breath, headache and sore throat.
Weaver said OptumServe will collect specimens using nasopharyngeal swabs and will manage reporting test results. The company will provide its own supplies, personal protective equipment, testing kits, staffing and lab.
“This will provide a more complete picture about the spread of the virus, not only in high-risk populations, but across the entire state,” Weaver said.
None of the program’s first 20 testing sites announced Tuesday are in Hancock County.
“We’re taking into consideration going into areas that probably did not have or have not had access to testing previously… and we’ll continue to select locations on where the testing is most needed,” Weaver said.
Each site will be open for at least eight hours a day Monday through Friday. Once all 50 open, patients should receive their results within about 48 hours. Results will also be reported to the Indiana State Department of Health.
While a phone line will eventually be available for making appointments, patients will be encouraged to sign up for testing via a web portal. Weaver said there will be no charge for the tests and that having insurance is not required, but patients will be asked to bring private insurance information if they have it.
“Optum testing will expand options for Hoosiers without impacting what we are already doing across the state,” Weaver said. “It’ll be in addition to it.”
Indiana is the second state in which OptumServe has started testing for COVID-19, Weaver continued, adding the company began testing in California earlier this week.
The state department of health’s strike teams will continue testing in long-term care facilities and other identified hot spots, Weaver also said.
During Tuesday’s news conference, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb repeatedly referred to an announcement planned for Friday addressing what the near future will look like as his executive order expires that’s restricted many business practices and asked Hoosiers to stay home.
CNBC reported that Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group plans to reopen 49 of its malls and outlet centers across the country by Monday. It prompted questions for Holcomb over whether he’d shared anything with the company ahead of his Friday announcement. Holcomb said while he recently spoke with Simon leadership, he did not share anything about the state’s upcoming plans and emphasized those details will be released on Friday.
