Tower Mall COVID-19 testing site offers rapid free testing to all

Plans for the site were first announced in December. The drive-thru is a partnership between the City of Vancouver, Clark County Public Health, the Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency, the state Department of Health and the nonprofit group Health Commons Project.

The site is staffed in part by Parks and Recreation employees, Perlick said, some of whom were previously furloughed due to the pandemic. The drive-thru is targeted to run for three months, although that could be adjusted based on demand.

Tower Mall was chosen to host the testing site because it’s a city-owned and centrally located property, Perlick said, and the mall is slated to be torn down as part of the city’s upcoming Heights District redevelopment plan. The building is mostly empty, making its large parking lot an ideal space to set up a socially distant drive-thru operation.

Drive-thru process

Drivers enter the parking lot from North Blanford Drive and are initially directed to a greeting tent, then into a line that snakes across the lot to reach the registration tent, where staff collect registration and insurance information. Patients are encouraged to pre-register online, Perlick said, although registration can also be done in-person at the site.

The city will bill patients’ insurance providers when possible, but will not bill any individual site visitors. The test is free and available to everyone, Perlick said, regardless of insurance or immigration status. There’s also no geographic requirement — the clinic is intended to serve Clark County residents, but will offer tests to anyone who visits.

“We never turn anybody away,” Perlick said.

Drivers then proceed to the testing tent, which is set up to allow for as little physical contact as possible. Patients pull into one of the drive-thru bays and are handed a sealed testing kit that they can use without leaving their cars. When the test is finished, they seal it back up and drop it in a bin.

The site uses oral saliva PCR tests rather than nasal swabs, eliminating one of the more unpleasant aspects of the testing process. Patients are simply asked to cough deeply and then swap the inside of their mouth for 20 seconds.

“It’s a self-administered mouth swab, so you do the test on yourself in your own vehicle or in the walk-up area,” Perlick said.

Patients need to refrain from eating or drinking anything for 20 minutes before arriving in order to ensure that the mouth swab gets a clean sample. Visitors who have recently eaten will be asked to come back later or pull off to the side to wait, Perlick said.

The testing process takes about 20 minutes unless the site is exceptionally busy, Perlick said, and the best time to avoid the lines is in the late morning or early afternoon.

“The first hour of the day has been the busiest, pretty consistently,” he said.

Drive-thru visitors are given discharge papers with instructions for how to self-quarantine while awaiting test results and in the event of a positive result. Patients will be notified of their results within two or three days.