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-through patients. Prescreening is not required, and the cost is free to patients.

Patients will be contacted within 5 -7 days with the results of their test, if not sooner. Patients are asked to bring photo identification and an insurance card if they have one. Insurance is not required to be seen, however, the CARES Act does require MUSC to bill insurance providers if patients do have insurance. Patients may email drivethruresults@musc.edu if they have questions regarding their results. If they do not have an email address, they may call 843-985-8888.

The mobile setup allows care providers to rotate sites, reaching underserved and rural populations experiencing barriers to health care access for COVID-19 screening. 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.

CONWAY: This site will open at Conway High School, 2301 Church St., Conway, S.C. 29526 on Wednesday, June 10 from 2-7 p.m. and Friday, June 12 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.