Tuomey's COVID-19 testing site moves to BB&T bank building

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Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital will move its COVID-19 drive-through testing site to the former BB&T bank building at the corner of Calhoun and Main streets in downtown Sumter.

The move is effective Wednesday, July 29. Testing times remain the same: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday. The lot, located at 216 N. Main St., replaces the testing site at the hospital's Day Surgery entrance on Calhoun Street. This site is for community members who have a provider order and an appointment. Paper orders are not accepted; they must be faxed by the provider. Community members cannot be seen if they have not been scheduled by a provider.

"As the state ramps up its efforts to detect new cases of COVID-19 and slow its spread, we are expanding this testing service to better serve the community," said Michelle Logan-Owens, the hospital's chief executive officer.

"We are seeing alarming rates of COVID-positive individuals daily across the nation," she said. "I implore our community: Please take care of yourself and others by following the recommendations for masking, consistent hand hygiene and continued social distancing. I know we are all anxious to engage with friends and family, but we need to take care of ourselves and each other."

Prisma Health had collected 104,388 completed tests as of Friday, July 25. More than 47,000 were at hospital-based drive-through sites. Of those, 15,191 (15.8%) were positive for COVID-19.

If you think you may have COVID-19, call your primary care provider, use a free Prisma Health Virtual Visit (www.PrismaHealth.org/Virtual-Visit) or call the community outreach hotline at 1-833-2PRISMA. Do not go to your local emergency department for testing unless you are directed there by a provider. Providers determine if a test should be ordered based on a patient's risk factors and underlying health issues, as well as symptoms such as fever, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell, dry cough, sore throat, diarrhea, pink-eye, unusual tiredness, unusual aches and pains and headache.

Please wear a mask to this testing site. Upon arrival, remain in your car and await instructions from the testing team. The hospital lab will fax or call the ordering physician with the results within 72 hours; patients should be contacted by the provider - not by the hospital - as soon as their result is available.

Prisma Health asks that patients self-isolate at home until they hear the results of their test. This is vital to help protect the community from potential exposure. If the patient's symptoms worsen, the patient should contact his or her physician.

For more information about COVID-19 and Prisma Health's continued response and community testing sites, visit www.PrismaHealth.org/Coronavirus.

Community testing

Testing is a priority for Prisma Health, especially providing access to communities that need it the most. Community testing, done in partnership with the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, reaches people who may not otherwise have access to traditional testing or online virtual visits.

To find a list of community testing sites, including Prisma Health's community testing sites, visit www.SCDHEC.gov.

DHEC will contact those who were tested at one of these non-hospital-based locations with their result.

For more information about COVID-19 and Prisma Health's continued response, visit www.PrismaHealth.org/Coronavirus.