MUSC Health to open free walk-up/drive-through COVID-19 specimen collection site in Sumter

CHARLESTON, S.C. (May 1, 2020) – The Medical University of South Carolina’s health system will open its second mobile COVID-19 walk-up and drive-through specimen collection site in Sumter at the Civic Center located at 700 West Liberty Street. Screening and specimen collection is free and through these mobile sites, intended to reach underserved and rural populations experiencing barriers to health care access for COVID-19 screening. The first location opened earlier this week in Columbia at Eau Claire High School.

“I give a special salute to the health care professionals who are providing exemplary service for this effort,” said S.C. state Rep. David Weeks, who represents District 51. “The need for testing, especially for our elderly citizens and for those who live in historically disadvantaged communities, is paramount. I will continue to work with local and state health care providers to make sure this opportunity is available to our local underserved neighborhoods. Thank you, MUSC.”

The mobile screening and collection site will open Monday, May 4, with hours of operation from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day, and again on Wednesday, May 6, and Friday, May 8. Collectively, the MUSC Health ambulatory, telehealth, information solutions, emergency management and operations, finance, laboratory and leadership teams were first in the nation to launch a combined virtual urgent care platform and drive-through specimen collection site; now, they’re taking a version of this successful model to more communities that need it. 

Rural and underserved communities experience disparities in access to COVID-19 screening, testing, prevention and treatment in South Carolina and nationally. MUSC Health, in partnership with the state legislature, is setting up mobile screening and collection sites in rural and underserved areas. Tents will be set up outside in designated locations to collect COVID-19 respiratory specimens from both walk-up and drive-thru patients. Prescreening is not required, and the cost is free to patients. Patients will be contacted within seventy-two hours with the results of their test. The mobile setup allows care providers to rotate sites and reach as many individuals as possible during the next several weeks.

“We are incredibly pleased to work with our state elected officials, local and county municipalities, clinical partners and affiliates, law enforcement and emergency management teams throughout targeted areas of our state to gain a better understanding of community prevalence and any increase in new COVID-19 infections,” said Patrick J. Cawley, M.D., MUSC Health CEO. “We will continue to leverage technology and use mobile units to expand access to COVID-19 education, screening, testing, monitoring and treatment for patients in rural and underserved areas. Serving the community in this way is at the core of what we do at MUSC, and I am incredibly proud of the innovative approach this team of people has created to meet communities where they are and get them the care they need.”

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About MUSC

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the oldest medical school in the South as well as the state’s only integrated academic health sciences center with a unique charge to serve the state through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates and trains more than 3,000 students and nearly 800 residents in six colleges: Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy. The state’s leader in obtaining biomedical research funds, in fiscal year 2019, MUSC set a new high, bringing in more than $284 million. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.

As the clinical health system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest quality patient care available while training generations of competent, compassionate health care providers to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Comprising some 1,600 beds, more than 100 outreach sites, the MUSC College of Medicine, the physicians’ practice plan and nearly 275 telehealth locations, MUSC Health owns and operates eight hospitals situated in Charleston, Chester, Florence, Lancaster and Marion counties. In 2019, for the fifth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org.

MUSC and its affiliates have collective annual budgets of $3.2 billion. The more than 17,000 MUSC team members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers and scientists who deliver groundbreaking education, research, technology and patient care.