(left) The newly erected COVID-19 Drive-through Testing Tent at Manet’s North Quincy site opened this week. (right) Staff getting ready for the opening.
Manet this week began offering drive-through testing for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) at our North Quincy site, 110 West Squantum Street. The 30-x 60-foot tents, erected in the parking lot with assistance and support from the City of Quincy, will serve as an urgent care center and enable the health center to more efficiently screen and test patients with suspected exposure or symptoms of COVID-19 or other respiratory ailments while further protecting other patients and staff. The site will serve patients by appointment only.
“Manet has been on the front lines since the outbreak began as one of the only health care providers in Quincy offering testing and helping to alleviate unnecessary burdens on the Emergency Departments of our local acute care hospitals. We transformed our first floor to safely isolate and accommodate patients who required evaluation and testing for COVID-19,” explains Cynthia Sierra, Manet’s chief executive officer, noting that Manet has so far tested more than 300 patients. “By moving the urgent response clinic outside, we can offer an even more contained experience.”
Manet has been responding nimbly to the quickly changing COVID-19 pandemic since early March, mobilizing a team – led by Chief Medical Officer Lily Yung, MD, infectious disease specialist Karla Talledo, MD, and occupational health specialist Justin Yang, MD, MPH, and other key clinical and administrative staff – to ensure the health and safety of all patients and staff. The team put into place several plans and procedures that has enabled the health center to remain operational during the public health emergency, including:
- temporarily closing its Vision Center and utilizing the first-floor clinic as an urgent visit clinic to evaluate and test potential COVID-19 patients, reducing the risk of exposure for patients being seen for routine visits on the second floor
- instituting stringent screening of all patients and everyone entering health center, including masking and temperature checks
- practicing enhanced cleaning and sanitizing procedures at all sites
- offering telehealth visits (video and telephonic) for patients unable or reluctant to come to the health center
- strictly enforcing “social distancing” within sites and reducing the number of staff working on-site to only essential clinical and operational staff, and
- communicating continuously with patients and staff to alleviate anxiety and misinformation.
“We are proud to serve our patients across five sites and two broad service areas, and we are fortunate to work with our dedicated local health departments, clinical partners and health center colleagues to ensure that our patients – some of whom are among the most vulnerable – receive the care and attention the need and deserve,” Sierra says. “We are very grateful for the support and partnership of our federal, state and local delegations and municipalities as we continue to find ways to serve all who need care.”
Ready to roll! The urgent response team is suited up and ready to go!