FORT SMITH, Ark. — A COVID-19 drive-thru testing site will open Tuesday, April 28, in the parking lot of Fort Smith Park located at 5301 Riverfront Drive, Fort Smith.
The site is supported by Walmart, Quest Diagnostic, the State of Arkansas, Mayor George McGill and the City of Fort Smith and will test those exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, as well as first responders and health care providers, whether or not they have symptoms of the virus. Please note, testing is not available inside Walmart stores.
“Walmart is part of the community, and we are proud to help support the expansion of COVID-19 testing in Fort Smith during this unprecedented time,” said Michael Lindsey, Walmart Public Affairs Director for Arkansas. “We are grateful to our associates who keep our stores running, our pharmacists who support these testing sites, and to Quest Diagnostics and local officials as we work together to open the site and help our community.”
Details regarding the testing sites:
- The site is open Monday – Wednesday each week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather permitting, and will test those who are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 and all health care providers and first responders.
- The testing site will require an appointment through Quest’s MyQuestTM online portal and app, www.MyQuestCOVIDTest.com, which will screen and schedule appointments for those individuals that meet medical eligibility for the testing sites. On-site scheduling will be available for those who need assistance with scheduling.
- Once on site, those being tested will need to stay in their cars for verification of eligibility criteria, ID check and self-administered test. For the safety of all those on-site, the test site is not available to those who walk up.
- The site will use a self-administered nasal swab test that will allow those being tested to swab their own nose onsite while in their vehicles, observed by a trained medical volunteer to ensure the sample is taken correctly, and drop the sealed sample into a container on their way out of the drive-thru site.
- Quest Diagnostics will handle processing test samples and communicating results to those tested and applicable departments of health.
- Any questions regarding testing and appointments, please call Quest’s dedicated COVID-19 line at 866-448-7719, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET
- The site will be staffed by volunteers, including Walmart health care professionals and Quest employees.
- While individuals who are tested are awaiting results, please follow CDC guidelines and take steps to help prevent the virus from spreading to people in your home and community.
By adding this testing site to the Northside of Fort Smith, ER Physician Dr. Lee Johnson believes we are taking steps in the right direction to overcome COVID-19.
“It's very important for our community as we start looking towards starting phase one of reopening that we have plenty of access to testing that’s going to be more important as we move forward and so by increasing our testing capacity here in the city, it's going to make a big difference in how we monitor and how were managing the outbreak,” Dr. Johnson said.
The City of Fort Smith is very excited to help provide this new site as they work to keep the River Valley safe.
“We are working together to make sure that you remain healthy and safe,” said City Administrator Carl Geffken.
Geffken says this new testing site is the first on the north side of Fort Smith, providing accessible testing to many more people.
“It opens it up to our residents on the north side of the city, provides easier access to all of our neighbors in Crawford County and Oklahoma, so please come and be tested,” Geffken said.
Unlike most drive-thru testing sites, this one requires a scheduled appointment at https://myquest.questdiagnostics.com/web/mycovid19test. All you have to do is fill out a quick questionnaire and pick a good testing time.
When people pull up they will receive a swab and conduct the test on themselves by putting the swab up their nose onsite and then dropping it into a sealed container.
The test is compared to a flu swab and doesn’t go as far back in the sinus as some initial tests did.
After getting tested, the results should be back in a few days.
Mayor George McGill encourages people of the River Valley to take advantage of this new testing site and its easy access. He says it's critical many people get tested as the city moves forward.
“Make sure you get your appointment and come down and be tested," Mayor McGill said. "The sooner we get a handle on this virus the better we're going to be as we strategize about how we're going to come out of this in the next few days."
The testing site is located at the Fort Smith park off of River Drive.
It’s open Monday through Wednesday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.