The state of Washington plans to open two community Covid testing sites in Spokane, but not immediately.
Spokane Interim Health Officer Francisco Velazquez says a private company called Discovery Health, based in the Puget Sound area, will operate them. The new drive-through venues will be located at Spokane and Spokane Falls Community Colleges.“It will take several weeks, from what I understand, to set that up because it’s not only the setting up, which is the easier part. The more complicated part is having the staffing to run it, because the staffing will be provided by Discovery Health under contract to the Department of Health," he said.
Velasquez says Discovery Health will probably hire local people to do the testing. Health district spokeswoman Kelli Hawkins says the cost of the testing will be shared between insurance companies and the state.
“Our understanding is that they will be asking for insurance information but the state is covering the cost of testing for those who do not have insurance," she said.
Velazquez says the public testing sites will ease the demand on health care companies that provide testing for their private customers.