Look who is stepping up in Tri-Cities to double free COVID testing

A new testing site in Tri-Cities is expected to double the availability of free COVID tests — and deliver results in just two to three days.

And this location will be a local effort.

The Benton Franklin Health District, Pasco Fire Department and Columbia Safety are opening the new site just as officials begin to worry that infections will rise this fall and winter.

The National Guard has been staffing much of the testing in the Tri-Cities this summer and has now closed its site at the Toyota Center in Kennewick and trimmed its hours at the HAPO Center in Pasco as guardsmen are being deployed to other areas.

“We need more people to get through testing,” said Pasco Fire Chief Bob Gear. “The National Guard is not a state program. We don’t know how much longer they’re going to be here ... We heard, good, we’re in good shape, we’re going to have two places testing. Next thing we know one of them is leaving.”

So, the new location at the former home of New Horizons High School on Argent Road, next to Columbia Basin College, is intended to fill the gap.

Gear, working with the local health district, brought in several retired firefighters to help run the testing facility.

With funding from the state Department of Health, they added help from several other community health groups including Columbia Safety, Greater Columbia Accountable Community of Health and the Health Commons Project.

They expect when everything is running at full capacity, the drive-up testing will be able to accommodate 500 people each day.

Testing sites in Benton and Franklin County currently averages about 230 tests a day.

The new testing will be free regardless of a person’s insurance or immigration status.

And the staff is multilingual in Spanish, Somali and Sign Language. Other language assistance services also will be available.

People can show up any time between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Thursday through Monday, but they are encouraged to sign up ahead of time at www.wacovid19.org/tricitiestesting.

The staff will include paramedics, emergency medical technicians, nurses and medical assistants.

And the tests will be processed at the University of Washington, with results returned in two to three days.

The funding for the testing center runs through the end of the year. It’s unclear if it will be extended after that.

Currently, there are no plans to open a new testing center in Kennewick.

Testing needs

Dr. Amy Person, health officer for the Benton Franklin Health District, described testing as a critical step in controlling the spread of COVID-19.

More testing does not mean more infections, she said. It means fewer infections in the long-term because health officials can react faster if numbers are increasing.

“Testing is the first step for finding people who have COVID-19, helping them to isolate, finding people who have been exposed and helping them to quarantine,” she said.

She encouraged anyone who has symptoms, had been exposed or is concerned to come in for a test.

The location and local staffing makes it an ideal site, she said.

“It’s critical to maintaining testing in our community, which is critical to maintaining control,” she said.

“We’re not there yet,” said Pasco City Councilman Ruben Alvarado. “We’re almost there but we’re not there yet. So I want to encourage everyone, let’s continue to do our part in beating this disease.”

This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 5:00 AM.