Carilion Clinic – which operates hospitals and health facilities in southwest Virginia – marked a milestone in the COVID pandemic Tuesday.
The health system is shutting down its two remaining drive thru testing centers.
The sites are closing down three years after they opened. As case counts ebbed and flowed during that time, officials say the largest testing center in Roanoke saw upwards of 500 patients a day during peaks.
Lindsey Dobbins is the Clinic Practice Director for the Roanoke site and the other in Christiansburg.
“Our team served our community through the extreme heat and cold – all while in full PPE," Dobbins says. "While we technically closed at 6pm, staff might stay until 10 or 11 at night to ensure needs were met.”
Carilion officials estimate 340,000 patients were seen at the two sites over the last three years.
Things are different now thanks to vaccines and higher community immunity.
“There is a lot of capacity in terms of testing,” says Dr. Anthony Baffoe-Bonnie, an infectious disease specialist for the health system.
“That’s why that we find that there is no need to utilize the testing strategy that we currently have.”
He says people should keep up on their vaccinations and keep some at-home tests on hand. That includes one recently approved by the FDA that surveys for COVID and the flu.
Patients who are in need of a test, though, can still get one at their primary care office or urgent care centers.
