Strengthening Coverage

Testing Facilities

Centura Health offers asymptomatic testing as Summit County expands partnership
Summit Daily | June 6

Summit County is in the process of transitioning all of its novel coronavirus testing partnerships to be with Centura Health, the owner of St. Anthony Summit Medical Center. In addition to the new partnership, Centura will expand its testing capabilities to include some people that don’t have symptoms of the virus.

Centura’s testing clinic at the Centers for Occupational Medicine in Frisco operates daily and has been providing community testing to Summit County residents since late April.

UCHealth tests more than 12,400 people for coronavirus antibodies in a week 
Gazette | June 6

UCHealth has tested more than 12,400 people for coronavirus antibodies in the week since the health system started offering screening to anyone in Colorado.

UCHealth Coronavirus Antibody Testing Boasts 98% Accuracy Rate
KCNC-TV | June 3

With the approval of the Food and Drug Administration, Colorado medical provider UCHealth is boasting of its ability to test Coloradans for COVID-19 antibodies with a more than 98% accuracy rate.

Denver’s free COVID-19 testing at Pepsi Center now open to anyone who may have been exposed
Denver Post | June 2

People who don’t have symptoms of the novel coronavirus but believe they were exposed to someone with the respiratory illness will now be able get checked at the Pepsi Center, where Denver has a free, drive-up testing site.

“Increasing access to testing in Denver has been a huge priority,” said Mayor Michael Hancock in a statement. “Ramping up capacity and access for more people, including those not experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, is critical to staying ahead of this pandemic and putting our city on the road to recovery.”

Axis Health Partnering to Offer Free COVID-19 Testing
Pagosa Daily Post | June 1

Axis Health System (Axis) and San Juan Basin Public Health (SJBPH) are partnering to provide drive-through COVID-19 testing at the Archuleta Integrated Healthcare clinic. There is no fee for testing from June 2 through August 25.

UCHealth offering antibody tests for anyone with potential exposure to COVID-19
Greeley Tribune | May 28

UCHealth has added antibody tests to its arsenal of tests for COVID19, and the antibody option is open to anyone in Colorado.

Colorado nursing homes to test all employees weekly to try to avert coronavirus outbreaks; residents also will be tested if they have left facilities to get medical care
Denver Post | May 21

All people working in Colorado nursing homes and other residential health facilities will be tested weekly for the new coronavirus for at least eight weeks, a new effort by the state to try to prevent more outbreaks like those that already have taken an outsized toll.

Testing all employees regularly is an important step toward keeping the virus out of nursing homes, said Doug Farmer, president and CEO of the Colorado Health Care Association and Center for Assisted Living, which represents long-term care facilities.

The plan is to start testing at the state’s largest homes and gradually expand it to the smaller ones, he said.

“I think it will be more meaningful, more useful” than just testing people who have symptoms or a known exposure, he said. “We welcome this mass-testing approach.”

Polis announces expanded testing capabilities
Colorado Springs Business Journal | May 19

Governor Jared Polis announced that Colorado now has the supplies, testing sites, and capacity to test anyone showing symptoms of COVID-19, as well as all health care workers, all senior care facility workers, all first responders, and all essential workers who directly interact with the public while working, whether they have symptoms or not.

“Any individual who fits into these categories is encouraged to get tested,” Polis’ announcement said.

All symptomatic Coloradans, essential workers can get coronavirus test as capacity ramps up
Coloradoan | May 18

Colorado now has enough coronavirus testing supplies to test anyone with flu-like symptoms or any essential workers who interact with the public.

Banner Health offers antibody testing for COVID-19 in Northern Colorado
Reporter Herald | May 8

Northern Colorado residents can now get antibody tests for COVID-19 through Banner Health, which is partnering with Horizon Laboratory to provide the tests in Loveland.

Colorado gets $11.7 million in grants for expanded COVID-19 testing
KDVR | May 8

Healthcare organizations in Colorado will receive a combined $11,740,936 in grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to expand capacity for COVID-19 testing.

COVID-19 community testing to continue at CU Boulder through May 30
CU Boulder | May 8

Through continued partnership with the Colorado Emergency Operations Center, King Soopers extends FREE COVID-19 drive-thru testing through the end of May. King Soopers Health and Wellness professionals have administered over 2,000 free tests to date and anticipate administering 14,000 tests by the end of May.

COVID-19 testing expands across Colorado
Castle Pines | May 8

Now, one community health center in Wheat Ridge, two in Aurora and one in Kiowa — along with about two dozen others statewide, according to the state’s map — are more readily allowing the public to get tested.

STRIDE Community Health Offers More Free Coronavirus Testing
CBS4 Denver | May 7

STRIDE health center is partnering with Cherry Creek Schools to offer free testing at Overland High School.

Polis announces map tool to help find coronavirus testing sites in Colorado
KUSA 9News Denver | May 4

Gov. Jared Polis (D-Colorado) announced a new tool to help with COVID-19 testing across the state as part of his update at the state Capitol on the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The state has launched a map that locates sites that offer testing for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The map can be found at covid19.colorado.gov under the tab “Find a community-based testing site.”

Colorado National Guard Continues Testing Long-Term Care Facilities
CBS4 Denver | May 4

The Colorado State Joint Information Center is working with the National Guard to expand testing at nursing homes and long-term care facilities in Colorado.

Colorado sends coronavirus testing supplies to 42 community sites
Greeley Tribune | April 29

Colorado is sending coronavirus testing supplies across the state in order to open 42 community sites as the state transitions away from a strict stay-at-home order to the second phase of coronavirus pandemic response.

The testing sites will be operated either by local public health agencies or community health providers.

Denver King Soopers offering free COVID-19 testing
KKTV | April 27

King Soopers announced they are launching free COVID-19 drive-thru testing in partnership with Colorado State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC). The first testing site will be at the Auraria Campus in Denver starting on Tuesday, April 28.

Kroger expands coronavirus drive-thru testing
Supermarket News | April 24

The Kroger Co. is rolling out COVID-19 drive-thru test sites to Colorado, Michigan and Ohio, as well as opening additional testing locations in Tennessee.

Kroger Health, the supermarket giant’s health care division, said yesterday the new test sites join existing locations in Kentucky and Tennessee and are for all priority groups, including health care workers, first responders and symptomatic individuals. Testing is free.

Can’t afford testing? Anonymous donors have you covered in Southwest Colorado
Durango Herald | April 24

Widespread community testing became available in Southwest Colorado on April 9 after a private lab, Cedar Diagnostics, announced it had acquired 800 test kits and then developed its own test, which is now unlimited.

Testing locations are available in Durango, Cortez and Pagosa Springs.

Denver’s National Jewish Health to offer coronavirus antibody testing to anyone — no doctor’s note needed
Denver Post | April 22

National Jewish Health in Denver will offer tests for antibodies to the new coronavirus to anyone who wants one starting Friday, though people who want to be tested for a current infection still will need a doctor’s referral.

The immune system develops antibodies that are specific to a type of virus or bacterium. If the same virus enters the body again, the antibodies essentially tag it for other cells in the immune system to destroy. That means that if a person has antibodies for a particular virus, like COVID-19, they know they were infected with it at some point.

Colorado National Guard help test long-term care residents for COVID-19
KDRV | April 22

The Colorado National Guard, Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment are partners in COVID-19 testing at multiple Colorado long-term care facilities.

Peak Vista opens drive-thru coronavirus testing site
Fox21 News | April 20

Peak Vista Community Health Centers said Friday they were the first health center in El Paso County to provide a coronavirus drive-through testing site for anyone with symptoms in the past 3-5 days.

They said symptomatic individuals 12 years of age and older can come and get tested without a doctor’s note. The testing site opened Friday, April 17th. They stated they hope it reinforces state efforts to manage the spread of the virus.

Colorado Health Department Gearing Up For Mass Coronavirus Testing To Reopen The State
CBS4 Denver | April 17

“We’re currently working with our local public health agencies, and really developing a mass testing strategy with them. The goal is really to have the local public health, work with health care providers, whether it’s doctors offices federally qualified health centers or hospital systems to really determine the best way to do mass testing in their communities,” said Scott Bookman, Incident Commander for the CDPHE.

The goal is to have a mass testing center in every one of Colorado’s 64 counties…Mass testing is part of a larger strategy that state officials are working on in order to lift the stay-at-home order.

Boulder diagnostics company begins testing for COVID-19
Denver Business Journal | April 13

Boulder-based Biodesix has begun testing COVID-19 patients. The company, which specializes in blood-based diagnostic tests for lung diseases, realized pretty early on in the pandemic that it had the capacity to test and wanted to do so.

With labs shuttered, Colorado’s universities pivot to help hospitals fight coronavirus outbreak
Denver Post | April 8

As the novel coronavirus began to spread through Colorado, Steve Fenster learned firsthand how hospitals were about to be tested.

The co-chair of the biology department at Fort Lewis College in Durango heard from him wife, a nurse at Mercy Regional Medical Center, that critical personal protection equipment such as gloves and masks were going to be in short supply in the near future.

Centura Health Offers Testing for symptomatic first responders
NBC 5 Southern Colorado | April 8

Emergency medical services (EMS), firefighters, and law enforcement play an important role during the pandemic by responding to help patients, provide medical treatment and transport sick people to get the help they need.

That’s why Centura Health is offering COVID-19 testing for symptomatic first responders across Colorado.

Engineering lab at CSU transformed into testing site for COVID-19 medical protective gear
CSU | April 6

Professor John Volckens’ 2,000-square-foot lab on the campus of Colorado State University is normally a place for experiments on air quality, pollution sensors, and how breathable particles can trigger disease.

Over the last two weeks, the lab has suspended most of its usual activities and transformed into the official testing site for respirators and surgical masks for distribution throughout the state of Colorado. These forms of personal protective equipment are critical for ensuring the safety of front-line medical workers who are battling COVID-19 every day.

Colorado Springs testing site expands; offers free COVID-19 tests for people over 65
Fox 21 | April 5

The FEMA-sponsored COVID-19 testing site that is currently providing testing for health care workers and first responders is now expanding to provide testing for individuals over 65 years who have symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough, shortness of breath).

Veterans now have their own COVID-19 testing site in Colorado Springs
KKTV | April 2

The drive-through site opened Wednesday at the VA clinic off Fillmore and Centennial in Colorado Springs.

The testing site is not for the general public — it’s there for the thousands of veterans living around the Pikes Peak region.

“Colorado Springs has a number of veterans, one of the highest populations in the country. And so we want to make sure that we are taking care of our veterans in that community,” said Anthony Moorehead, regional manager for VA Southern Colorado.

The VA says this testing site is not intended for all veterans to come out just because they want to be tested. It’s strictly for those vets who are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.

In-home coronavirus testing a “big win” in Colorado mountain county, but more tests needed
Denver Channel | April 1

Coronavirus tests have been limited across Colorado, but a mountain county is hoping a new mobile program — and possibly hundreds of tests ordered from a private lab company — will greatly increase their ability to track the spread of COVID-19.

Summit County on Tuesday launched in-home testing for residents who show coronavirus symptoms and have a doctor’s note qualifying them to be tested.

Why coronavirus antibody testing in one town could provide a way forward
ABC News | March 28

In Telluride, Colorado, one biotech company put that idea to work.

United Biomedical is now working with San Miguel County, which includes the famous Rocky Mountain ski destination, to test all 8,000 residents for COVID-19 antibodies — making it the first community in the country to do widespread antibody testing. The idea, officials said, is to learn from an individual’s blood whether there is evidence the person has already been exposed. With that information, officials can then make decisions about whether quarantines and restrictions would need to continue and whether they need to be as widespread as they are in states and cities across the country right now.

Hyundai Hope on Wheels Program Pledges $2.2M for Drive-Thru Testing
Yahoo Finance | March 27

Colorado Children’s Hospital in Aurora will receive $200,000.

STRIDE Health Center Opens Drive-Thru Coronavirus Testing Site in Aurora
Sentinel Colorado | March 23

Aurora welcomed its first drive-thru test site for the new coronavirus this week after STRIDE Community Health Center opened a location in the Del Mar Parkway neighborhood.

The location will be offering drive-thru testing for hospital workers from 8 a.m. to noon, and for the general public from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

National Jewish Hospital Develops COVID-19 Test, Results in 24 Hours
CBS 4 Denver | March 23

… If the answer to any of the questions is ‘yes’ and the patient is showing symptoms the person is given a mask, sent to a separate entrance and evaluated at a newly created sterile clinic where they can test for COVID-19 with a test developed within the last few weeks at National Jewish. It is also processed at the hospital.

“And the results read out in 24 hours or less,” said Frankel. “Being able to get a result faster is better for patients, providers and the community.”

Right now, they can do about a hundred tests a day at National Jewish. They hope to soon be able to run up to 300. All testing depends on the availability of test kits.

County Announces New Partnership for Widespread Testing for COVID-19
San Miguel County Public Health | March 18

San Miguel County announced they will begin partnering with United Biomedical (UBI) and its subsidiary c19 taking on the COVID-19 pandemic, to be the first in the United States to test an entire county with UBI’s COVID-19 blood test. The county has had no confirmed cases of COVID-19 but officials say medical workers suspect they may be treating people with the virus. Colorado Public Radio noted “through a public-private partnership, will test all residents free of charge.”

UCHealth Opens Coronavirus Testing Center in Colorado Springs
Fox Denver | March 13

UCHealth is opening a regional drive-through coronavirus testing center in Colorado Springs. …The Colorado state health department is encouraging anyone who is symptomatic or thinks they may have been exposed to the virus to call or email their physician first for guidance. Always call before reporting to a healthcare facility for testing. [Note: This testing site was suspended after about a week]

Polis Touts Private Sector Partners
Aspen Daily News | March 13

Although Pitkin county ceased the general testing for coronavirus, an article in the Aspen Daily on March 13th indicates there were private sector partners involved stating, “Even Polis, who several times during his Friday address expressed his frustration that the state hasn’t received more testing kits and touted private sector partners that have expanded the state’s testing capacity greatly…”