East Hampton To Host Covid Testing Site
Diagnostic tests for the Covid-19 coronavirus will be available at the Pantigo Place Ball Field parking lot in East Hampton by appointment beginning this Friday, May 15.
Tests will be offered to South Fork residents on Wednesdays and Fridays.
In conjunction with East Hampton Village Deputy Mayor Barbara Borsack
and the East Hampton Healthcare Foundation, which will initially fund the project, East HamptonTown Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc has engaged Hudson River Health Care to do the diagnostic testing.
Tests will be available, by appointment, to those with Covid-19 symptoms or those who have been in contact with someone positive for Covid-19, and to the workers identified as eligible for tests by New York State.
This includes health care workers, first responders, and “essential employees” who directly interact with the public, such as food service workers, delivery persons, and human services providers. The full list is available here.
Insurance will be accepted. Those who are uninsured and cannot afford the cost of the diagnostic test may be tested for free.
Bilingual staff will be on hand, and tests will be provided to those who are eligible, regardless of immigration status.
Appointments may be made by calling 845.553.8030.
“The local availability of Covid-19 diagnostic testing will help us to stop the spread of the virus within our community and move us closer to a safe reopening of our economy,” said Mr. Van Scoyoc. “Contact tracing, which Suffolk County is ramping up, will identify community members exposed to positive Covid-19 cases so that they may also quarantine and help stop the virus’s spread.”
Suffolk County is now hiring contact tracers. More information is online here.
Hudson River Health Care offers tests at a site adjacent to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital in Southampton Village on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The ball field site, behind the town’s office complex on Pantigo Place just eas of town hall, is owned by East Hampton Town. It is slated to eventually be the site of a remote emergency room for Southampton Hospital.
This additional testing site and days will make diagnostic tests more readily available to East Hampton residents and will help the area achieve one of the metrics required to begin to reopen sectors of the economy, according to New York State: an ability to tests a minimum number of residents for COVID-19 each day.
The testing program could be expanded to include antibody tests to determine if individuals may have already had the virus, as those tests become more reliable and widely available, said Mr. Van Scoyoc.
“I’ve been very pleased to work closely with Supervisor Van Scoyoc to help facilitate this testing site with the East Hampton Healthcare Foundation and Stony Brook Southampton Hospital for our community,” said East Hampton Village Deputy Mayor Barbara Borsack, who is also a member of the East Hampton Healthcare Foundation and Southampton Hospital Association boards.
The East Hampton Healthcare Foundation will provide the financial support needed initially, and will accept donations to support continued testing.
“The staff and Trustees of the East Hampton Healthcare Foundation are pleased to support this public/private initiative in making COVID-19 testing available in our community,” said Sheila Rogers, director of the East Hampton Healthcare Foundation.
“We are pleased to bring pop-up testing to East Hampton,” said Anne Kauffman Nolon, MPH, Chief Executive Officer of Hudson River Health Care. “As we continue to actively adapt our response to COVID-19, pop-up testing remains important for the added protection of patients and staff. We will continue expanding our response to the pandemic until we prevail, for the sake of our patients and our communities.”
Donations may be sent to the East Hampton Healthcare Foundation at 200 Pantigo Place, Suite M, East Hampton, NY 11937, or online at easthamptonhealthcare.org.
