County Extends Free COVID-19 Testing Site into December

The Centre County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday once again approved additional time for the free COVID-19 testing site at the Nittany Mall, this time for an extra two weeks.

Commissioners approved continuing a contract with AMI Expeditionary Healthcare to extend the walk-in clinic for Dec. 1-5 and Dec. 8-12.

Under the original contract signed in October, the clinic had been scheduled to operate five days a week from Oct. 27 through Nov. 14. At their meeting last Tuesday, the commissioners voted to extend it through this week, Nov. 17-21. Prior to the county’s contract with AMI, the health care company performed free testing at the mall between Sept. 25-Oct. 10 under contract with the Pennsylvania Department of Health to provide testing in communities in need across Pennsylvania.

The clinic will be open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays each week in the former Bon-Ton location. It will not operate next week because of logistical challenges posed by the Thanksgiving holiday.

Testing is available to anyone of any age and no appointment is needed. Photo ID is required. Individuals with insurance will be asked to provide an insurance card, no co-pay or any other cost is charged. Those without insurance also are tested free of charge.

The contract for this week and the two weeks in December is for a maximum of 300 tests at $78,002 per week. Centre County Administrator Gray said that is the ceiling, but if fewer tests are administered the county will be charged less. The clinic is being funded through money set aside from the county’s $14.7 million CARES Act block grant. 

The clinic had been averaging 125-150 tests per day, but each day last week was over 200.

As cases soar across Pennsylvania, Gray said, AMI’s testing services are more in demand.

‘We’re very fortunate to already have this resource in our community and for you to provide the CARES Act funding to keep it going,’ Gray said.

Board of Commissioners Chair Michael Pipe said with the virus spreading rapidly throughout Pennsylvania, maintaining the clinic for additional weeks is important.

‘We’re seeing our numbers spike across the country and here in the commonwealth,’ he said. ‘This is not the time to be letting off on the gas, To continue with the testing at this site I think is critical and the ability for us to lock [AMI] down and have them here and sign this contract before they’re deployed elsewhere, my worry is if they’re deployed elsewhere it will be a challenge to get them back. I think locking them in for those two weeks is critical.

‘But I will say the fact that there are two vaccines that are promising is a fantastic light at the end of the tunnel when we look at going into 2021.’

Commissioner Steve Dershem said that while he supported extending the clinic through Dec. 12, he believes that will be an appropriate time to end it.

‘I think we’ve been very generous with providing this service and at some point I think we need to probably wrap it up,’ Dershem said. ‘At that point the [Penn State] students will have exited the area and we should have, I would hope, some level of normalcy coming back at that point. I can support through the 12th I guess but at that point I’d say probably wrap it up.’

Pipe agreed that the clinic cannot be funded indefinitely but did not want to rule out extending it for additional time. 

‘I think not knowing where we’re going to be in the three, four weeks that lie ahead, I would be open to extending it again through December, through even January if we have the funds,’ Pipe said. ‘I think if we just keep an open mind on that I think that might be helpful. But I agree at a certain point our CARES Act funds will run out so we have to be mindful of that.’

Commissioner Mark Higgins said the clinic has been well-received.

‘There must be quite a demand out there,’ he said. ‘I know we’ve received numerous compliments from citizens as to how smooth the process is, how quickly it runs and how it’s nice you can just access it through the exterior door at the old Bon-Ton location.’