Foundation Health Partners’ drive-thru testing site moves from its location on Noble Street to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital (FMH), to see the first patients starting Monday, May 4. The drive-thru hours of operation will be Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to noon. Most tests will be by appointment with the ability to take urgent tests in-between.

In March, Fairbanks saw its first COVID-19 cases. As cases rose, the need for more testing was clear. To meet that need, the drive-thru testing site on Noble Street launched on March 19. The drive-thru testing offers safer and more rapid collection of nasal swabs.

The site was quickly stood up in the bank building at 900 Noble Street, generously lended for the cause. Tanana Valley Clinic (TVC) staff and Volunteers in Policing have operated the site with great success, collecting over 1,000 specimens.

“This site has been instrumental in the Interior’s fight against COVID,” said FHP Quality Medical Director Dr. Angelique Ramirez. “We have been able to test more than we ever could in a clinic setting alone. We are extremely grateful to everyone involved.”

The relocation of the site will help with some of the patient population changes the site will now accommodate. With State of Alaska mandates allowing for more medical services, more asymptomatic patients, those without any COVID-19 symptoms, will need testing as a requirement prior to surgeries and certain procedures. Those patients who need to complete pre-procedural testing will be able to get their blood drawn, EKG ran and their COVID test all within the FMH campus.

“The drive-thru testing will allow for safe and efficient services for symptomatic patients and for those asymptomatic patients needing testing before procedures,” said FMH Operations Senior Director Joan Sonnenburg. “It is allowing us to provide services for both situations.”

The FMH site will also be able to test patients as young as two years old. Locating the drive-through on the hospital campus allows the Pediatric floor nurses to come down to the drive through to collect pediatric specimens. Pediatric patients were previously directed to the clinic.

Patients seen at the drive-thru site require a provider referral. Patients without a primary care provider can call the hotline at 458-2888 to discuss symptoms. The hotline will partner with TVC Telemedicine Services, TVC 1st Care and the FMH Emergency Department to direct patients to needed care and facilitate ordering tests for patients.

The COVID-19 Hotline call center will also move from TVC to FMH with the drive-thru.

Below -Dr. Laura Brunner announces the drive-thru test site change at a press brief held on April 30, 2020.