Four vulnerable Houston communities will benefit from easier access to free COVID-19 tests as the Houston Health Department and its agency partners set up new testing sites for this week.
Texas Division of Emergency Management
The Texas Division of Emergency Management and the department will open a drive-thru test site at Moreno Elementary School, 620 E. Canino Road, for Houston’s Northside and Northline areas. The two agencies will also set up a site at Holland Middle School, 1600 Gellhorn Drive, for Pleasantville-area neighborhoods.
Both sites require appointments, obtained by calling 512-883-2400 or visiting
TXCOVIDTEST.ORG
. The sites will open May 11-16 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. or until each reaches its daily capacity of 250 tests.
United Memorial Medical Center
United Memorial Medical Center (UMMC) will open a new drive-thru and walk-up test site at the Stimley-Blue Ridge Neighborhood Library, 7007 W. Fuqua Street, in Missouri City.
The site will open May 11-13 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. or until reaching its daily capacity of 250 tests. It doesn’t require people to have symptoms or appointments.
UMMC will continue to offer drive-thru testing at its site at Houston Community College-Southeast, 6815 Rustic, until May 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or until reaching its daily 250 test capacity.
People needing information about UMMC test sites can call 1-866-333-COVID or visit ummcscreening.com.
Houston Health Department Mobile Unit & Community-Based Sites
The department will relocate its mobile unit to the Third Ward Multi-Service Center, 3611 Ennis, from May 12 through May 16.
People don’t need to have symptoms or appointments to get a free COVID-19 test through the department’s mobile unit, which offers drive-thru or walk-up options.
Mobile unit testing is set from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., or until reaching daily capacity of 100 tests. It will relocate May 19-23 to the Northeast Multi-Service Center, 9720 Spaulding Street.
The department also continues to operate two free drive-thru COVID-19 community-based testing sites open to anyone, regardless of symptoms. Each site has capacity for 500 tests per day and opens daily until capacity is reached.
People must call the department’s COVID-19 Call Center at 832-393-4220 to receive an access code and directions to the nearest community-based site or get more information about the department’s mobile unit.
Federally Qualified Health Centers
The department is providing test kits, lab access and equipment to four local Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) so they can expand their COVID-19 testing capacity. The centers and phone numbers people can call to set up testing appointments are:
- Spring Branch Community Health Center, 713-462-6565
- El Centro de Corazon, 713-660-1880
- Avenue 360 Health and Wellness, 713-426-0027 and
- Lone Star Circle of Care at the University of Houston, 877-596-6192.
FQHC patients pay what they can afford, based on income and family size, and are not denied services due to inability to pay or lack of insurance.
Houstonians can visit
HoustonEmergency.org/covid19
for more information about how and where to get tested, including an interactive map of public and private COVID-19 test sites.
