CARES Act helps create free COVID-19 testing site in Poplar Bluff

The Big Springs Medical Association was awarded $881,585 as part of the CARES Act and is already putting the money to work to battle the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the seven counties it serves.

A mobile testing site has been set up in the Mansion Mall parking lot in Poplar Bluff. The big RV sitting in front of Buffalo Wild Wings describes itself as a mobile dental unit on the side but is being used as a free coronavirus testing site with no out of pocket costs to patients.

“Any testing added helps us farther down the road. Getting out of this sooner rather than later always involves more testing,” said Robbie Myers, Butler County Emergency Management Agency director. “We’re always happy when there are sites like theirs that are added to the mix.”

It was brought to town over the weekend, had a dry run Monday and on Tuesday, its first day open to the public, six people were tested with two sent to the emergency room, CEO of Missouri Highlands Health Care Karen White said. Another four people were tested Wednesday.

“People are really deferring care because they don’t have the funds to pay for the test or go to the doctor,” White said. “We knew going into this that we would see some pretty sick individuals who deferred care because they just didn’t have any money.”

The mobile testing site also took 23 phone calls over those two days.

To get a test, people must still comply with Center for Disease Control guidance. The mobile unit does not have rapid tests yet, but White said test results are coming back more quickly, sometimes in just a day.

“Some of the early tests were taking a lot longer because there weren’t as many testing sites set up,” White said.

The next step, White said, is to get an urgent care clinic up and going this week in Doniphan. There has also been an order placed for about $12,000 worth of personal protection equipment.

While some of the funding is being used immediately against the pandemic, a portion will also be used for the long term health needs for the seven counties the Big Springs Medical Association serves. White highlighted telehealth as an example of this, where in the future a school nurse might be able to look in a student’s ear while a doctor watches using telehealth technology.

“If we can utilize those within the clinic, it won’t matter where the doctor is,” White said.

“We are looking at expanding a lot of our telehealth because we know that many of our individuals can’t get in or shouldn’t get it,” White continued. “We are seeing a huge need for telehealth with behavioral health. People are having huge challenges dealing with (the pandemic).”

Only a portion of the $881,585 has been received and White said they are still awaiting guidance on how it can be spent.

“We know we can use it for immediate needs,” she said.

White said they have also applied for and received money through the Paycheck Protection Plan and they plan to apply for additional funding for telehealth.

“That helped out tremendously because we had actually furloughed staff because we saw significant declines in patients coming in,” White said. “The beauty of being community health is we know our patients ... It is all about taking care of our friends, family and neighbors. My teams at each of our clinics get that.

“Even if they can’t come in the door, they are calling patients to make sure they are OK. It is just fun to lead a team with such a big heart.”