LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky is one of the last states in the nation to offer drive-through testing for the coronavirus.
Thursday UofL Health opened a drive-thru site to test its first 12 patients.
A lot on the corner of Brook and Liberty has been set up for pre-screened patients to drive through, get a nasal swab, and then drive away.
Right now only the most vulnerable patients can be tested and are seen by appointment only.
If someone comes up without an appointment, they will be referred to a primary care provider and will not be tested at the site.
UofL Health Chief Quality Officer Dr. Hugh Shoff says how quickly people will get their test results back varies. Tests are sent to a lab and results can come back in as little as a few days, depending on how much labs are backed up.
Thursday began a pilot phase, and Friday Dr. Shoff expects more appointments.
The goal of the clinic is to test these patients in an area where they aren’t in danger of spreading anything.
“Really what we want to do is centralize this and get it away from our clinics so that our patients aren’t exposing those other patents who are just there for routine care or regular office visits,” said Dr. Shoff.
Indiana already has some drive-thru testing locations open.
But like this new UofL testing center, they’re only for pre-screened patients.
So far Floyd County Public Health Officer Dr. Thomas Harris says they have tested 60 people since opening last week, and are waiting for the first set of results to come back.
RELATED: Beshear announces state's first drive-thru testing site as UofL Health prepares downtown location
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