HANCOCK COUNTY — The county is getting $200,000 from the state to offer free COVID-19 tests starting next month.
It’s part of the state’s awarding of $30 million over the next two years from federal coronavirus funding to 76 county health departments. The funds have spurred plans for nearly 100 new COVID-19 testing sites.
Crystal Baker, office manager and preparedness coordinator for the Hancock County Health Department, told the Daily Reporter in an email that the county’s $200,000 will be used to provide free testing at Hancock Regional Hospital’s two immediate care centers.
Dr. Julia Compton, president of Hancock Physician Network, said the free nasal swab tests will be offered at a drive-thru location at Gateway Hancock Health’s immediate care center near Mt. Comfort and in a walk-in capacity at the hospital’s immediate care center in Greenfield.
“I think it will be great to have that option of two different locations so that it hits two different parts of the county,” Compton said.
She added the grant mandates the free testing must remain available through summer 2021. Compton said if and when weather prevents the drive-thru location from being available, the walk-in opportunity will remain.
Much of the grant funding will be used to hire new staff to run the testing locations, Compton also said.
She and Baker said the free tests are tentatively scheduled to start being available on Monday, Oct. 5.
Dr. Kristina Box, Indiana State Health commissioner, said the new testing sites are meant to provide testing in addition to the 39 testing locations operated by OptumServe under a state contract awarded in May.
OptumServe operates a testing site in the Indiana National Guard armory in Greenfield. The Indiana State Department of Health told the Daily Reporter in an email that its contract with OptumServe will be extended through October.
Compton said the process for signing up for the free tests in Hancock County will be similar to that of OptumServe’s, which allows patients to sign up online.
Results for the free tests will have a three- to seven-day turnaround, Compton said, adding patients will be able to choose whether they’d like to be informed via email or text.
The hospital’s immediate care centers have been providing and will continue to provide COVID-19 tests for patients paying or going through insurance. Rapid tests are available to those patients, Compton said, for which results are available the same day.
Box said the new testing sites across the state should be conducting 100 to 200 free tests a day.
“Eventually, the goal will be to run (the testing costs) through insurance companies because a lot of people are insured, but we will not be turning away anyone that is uninsured or does not have the ability to pay for a test,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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COVID-19 data
Hancock County
- 150 new tests administered (no date range provided)
- 6 new positive cases (no date range provided)
- 2% seven-day positivity rate all tests (between Sept. 3 and 9), 4.4% cumulative rate
- 0 new deaths
- 21,041 total tests administered
- 15,418 total individuals tested
- 888 total positive cases
- 2.6% seven-day positivity rate unique individuals (between Sept. 3 and 9), 5.8% cumulative rate
- 42 total deaths
Indiana
- 14,052 new tests administered (between May 5 and Sept. 15), 7,448 new individuals tested
- 624 new positive cases (between Sept. 10 and 15)
- 4.7% seven-day positivity rate all tests (between Sept. 3 and 9), 6.2% cumulative rate
- 12 new deaths (between June 10 and Sept. 15)
- 1,770,032 total tests administered
- 1,261,892 total individuals tested
- 107,809 total positive cases
- 6.8% seven-day positivity rate unique individuals (between Sept. 3 and 9), 8.5% cumulative rate
- 3,247 total deaths
- 50.7% ICU beds in use – non-COVID
- 10.4% ICU beds in use – COVID
- 39% ICU beds available
- 16.4% ventilators in use – non-COVID
- 2.3% ventilators in use – COVID
- 81.3% ventilators available
- Total COVID-19 patients hospitalized: 788
Source: Indiana State Department of Health as of 11:59 p.m. Sept. 15
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