City set to open COVID-19 testing tent at Elmhurst Hospital
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A blue tent is set up outside Elmhurst Hospital. The city’s Health + Hospitals Corporation advised staff that the staff would test for COVID-19 at “mobile, outdoor tents.” Photo obtained by the Eagle
By Rachel Vick
UPDATE (Thursday, March 20, 2020 — 2:25 p.m.): The city announced that the testing tent is now open. This story has been edited to reflect the city’s announcement.
The city has opened an appointment-only COVID-19 testing center in a tent outside Elmhurst Hospital as the number of confirmed cases of the illness in Queens rose to 980, the Mayor’s Office said Thursday.
The tent is one of 21 new testing sites, including ten at Health + Hospital Corporation locations, established by the city to meet the urgent need for illness identification and treatment.
“If we’re going to curb this epidemic, we need fast and expansive testing for those most at risk for serious illness,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement. “Now we can get more New Yorkers the care they need at the right time—helping save lives, one test at a time.”
Information about the tent was first outlined in an internal newsletter from Health + Hospitals Corporation officials to staff March 16 that was shared with the Eagle.
The hospital had not yet opened the test site, but a large blue tent was set up outside the hospital Thursday morning.
“To create and increase capacity for evaluating and testing patients for COVID-19, NYC Health + Hospitals is setting up by-appointment-only COVID-19 Assessment and Testing Centers in every borough to help accommodate New Yorkers who are referred for testing,” the internal newsletter said.
“The testing centers will be located in our hospitals and large Gotham community health centers and will be set up in a combination of traditional clinic space inside facilities and in mobile, outdoor tents,” the text continued.
In the same email to staff, HHC Chief Medical Officer of Ambulatory Care Andrew Wallach, MD, sought to remind healthcare workers about their vital role in stemming the virus, and quelling anxiety.
“Anytime there is an epidemic or a virus that quickly spreads, there is concern, but this is what we do,” Wallach added. “We are trained professionals.”
Patients who think they may have symptoms of COVID-19 will be instructed to first call the health system hotline, where a clinician screener will determine if the caller is an at-risk individual before directing them to next steps, according to the newsletter.
At the new testing centers, patients will receive a consultation with a primary care doctor to establish medical history, in order to better equip doctors to provide the best possible treatment in case the person tests positive for COVID-19, the newsletter states.
The newsletter advises that patients will need to call the health system hotline at 844-NYC-4NYC before getting an appointment. They can also call through 311.
Phone screeners will consider various symptoms that may suggest the caller has COVID-19, including a cough, fever and shortness of breath, as well as a history of recent travel to affected countries.
The COVID clinics will see health and hospital patients and people without a regular physician, and patients who come in for testing are asked to wear a face mask in order to minimize spread, whether they are diagnosed or not, according to the newsletter.
