MEDICAL CLINIC PARTNERS WITH CVS HEALTH TO BRING FREE COVID-19 TESTING TO SOUTH PHOENIX

In June, St. Vincent de Paul launched rapid COVID-19 testing, together with CVS Health, at the nonprofit’s Virginia G. Piper Medical & Dental Clinic. Licensed health care providers from MinuteClinic, the retail medical clinic of CVS Health, and CVS Pharmacy colleagues staffed the testing operation. All tests were free, by appointment only and open to the public, including insured and uninsured individuals.

“This site brought testing to an area and population that had little access to this vital health resource during a pandemic,” SVdP Associate CEO Shannon Clancy said. “We’re so grateful to CVS Health for helping make that happen for the uninsured patients we serve and for members of the public that needed this rapid testing option.”

In total, the testing clinic completed 5,500 tests.

Along with the spike in Arizona cases, the clinic saw high demand and peak positivity rates in June and July. Within hours, a week of appointments would book even with appointments offered every 15 minutes. The rate of new cases began to drop in August. With this decline, the CVS Health testing clinic at SVdP closed at the end of September.