Faster COVID test results, shorter lines. Tri-Cities testing site makes changes

Only four miles separate the Tri-Cities’ two free coronavirus testing sites, yet hundreds more Tri-Citians each day are choosing one over the other.

But that’s about to change.

Changes starting today at the HAPO Center site should help balance out those numbers and bring a little relief to the crowds at the Columbia Basin College site.

People who want to see if they’ve contracted COVID-19 — or if they remain virus-free — now can preregister online for drive-through testing at the former TRAC location on Burden Boulevard.

And, just like the CBC-West site, they should expect results within two to three days instead of the previous three- to seven-day waiting period.

Erin Hockaday, the operations section chief at the Benton Franklin Health District, said these drive-through sites are a key tool to mitigating COVID in the area.

“Expanding testing helps for quicker identification of the disease. ... If somebody knows they’re COVID positive, they can make an informed decision on how to keep their loved ones safe,” she told the Tri-City Herald.

“On a larger scale, if we know where the disease is or where it’s concentrated, it helps state leaders to make more precise and informed decisions on how to best slow the disease and what measures to implement to slow the disease.”

Hockaday said the impetus for the changes at the HAPO site are partly due to the discrepancies in the turnaround time for test results between the two community sites in Pasco.

The HAPO Center site is operated by the Washington Army National Guard. That site is averaging 180 to 200 a day with a daily capability of 300.

By comparison, the CBC-West site has been processing an average 700 to 800 tests a day for the last couple of weeks. Its daily capacity was meant to be 500, and it recently crested 900 in one day.

The 3110 W. Argent Road site is staffed by the Pasco Fire Department and other Tri-Cities area emergency and healthcare workers.

Each location has a daily staff of 20.

Both Hockaday and Major James Hopkins believe more patients have been going to the CBC-West location because they found out they could get results faster.

The changes at the HAPO Center will bring it more in line with the capabilities at CBC-West and take some of the pressure off that team, they said.

Hopkins, Task Force Dragon commander, oversees 18 National Guard-operated testing locations throughout Washington state. He said the current administration just extended their mission assignment out to March 31.

It’s important for them to get out into communities as citizen soldiers and show that the state National Guard is in place to help in a time of need, he said.

“Every time we go into a community or into a county or a local jurisdiction, and we stand up a site and begin testing, ultimately the positive tests and the exposure rate has gone down in that county,” said Hopkins. “So I think that’s pretty valuable when you look at the big picture, not just for the Benton Franklin Health District but for the entire state of Washington.”

University of Washington lab

The National Guard team has been working over the past week with the CBC-West team — including Franklin County Emergency Management, Benton County Emergency Services and the Health Commons Project — to get trained on the new software and testing workflow so it will be a “seamless transition” on Wednesday.

Now, both sites will be contracting with the University of Washington lab and using software that syncs data directly from the testing site to the lab.

The collected samples then are delivered twice daily by private courier to the Seattle lab, which can automatically upload results to a portal for patients to access.

Previously, the samples from the HAPO site had to be shipped over the mountains to a different lab on the west side, which added a few days to the turnaround.

Preregistration online at bit.ly/Tri-CitiesTesting is not required but will make the experience faster at each testing site, say public health officials.

People who register in advance are given an arrival time, which helps with traffic flow by dispersing appointments throughout the day. However, officials caution that people initially may have to wait in line with everyone else until their car reaches the point where it breaks into lanes.

Hockaday said about 40 percent of the patients at the CBC-West site have been preregistering while the other 60 percent have been so-called walk-ins.

The HAPO Center site is open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. The CBC-West site operates from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day.

There is no free community drive-through in Benton County, and there currently is no talk of opening a third site.

Information about other Tri-City locations where testing is available is posted at the same link.

COVID testing site

“In Franklin County, the people have been extremely accommodating. They’re very friendly when they come up to the site, and they do what they’re asked to do when they’re asked to do it to facilitate the throughput to the best that we can,” said Hopkins. “We even have been able to provide testing for small children.”

“For the most part there is zero tension and people are very happy to go through our site and work with our folks,” he added.

The county has provided them with heaters and tents to help get through the rough winter months, said Hopkins, while staff rotate out so they’re not standing in the frigid weather all day.

He added that it’s now a sharp contrast to the hot summer months when staff were anxious for air conditioning.

Hopkins added that they’ve maintained the same numbers at the HAPO site since National Guard members started operating the testing in mid-June, so he doesn’t anticipate them going down anytime soon.

“Our disease activity is, both in Benton and Franklin counties right now, as high as it’s ever been,” said Hockaday. “We saw a little bit of a spike for people coming through the testing sites right before and right after Thanksgiving. And so we would expect to probably see the same for Christmas as people are traveling.”

“Even though we want to discourage people from gathering as much as possible, we know that there are some people who are going out to get tested in advance of that type of stuff,” she continued.

COVID symptoms

Testing is encouraged for anyone currently experiencing COVID symptoms, along with people who may have been exposed to the virus or are concerned about their status. People also can get tested if they need to show negative results before traveling or returning to work.

Symptoms can be any combination of: Cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fever, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, loss of taste or smell.

Health officials say symptoms may appear two to 14 days after exposure to the virus, and can be mild to severe illness.

Hockaday said it was important for the health district to have “low-barrier testing” because they know, especially with the demographics in the Tri-Cities, that it can be difficult to get to a doctor or pay for such tests.

State and federal laws say COVID testing should be free for anyone, so no insurance is needed at the community sites. However, people with a health insurance card are asked to bring it to help defray costs.

Washington law also says insurance companies cannot charge co-pays for COVID testing, though in-clinic provider visits may come with a fee.

This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 5:00 AM.