More than 1,000 Free Covid-19 Tests Given

Healthy Connections, Inc., is delivering on its promise to mass test the state of Arkansas, testing more than 1,000 people in the first two weeks of free Covid-19 testing.

Healthy Connections scheduled a series of pop-up testing sites and has tested anyone regardless of symptoms for free. Cities tested so far have included De Queen, Malvern, Hot Springs, Hot Springs Village, Little Rock, Benton, Arkadelphia, and Gurdon. The testing tour continues next week with stops in Mena, De Queen for a second time, and Nashville. See the complete schedule at www.GetTestedFree.com.

“We were asked to increase COVID-19 testing for Arkansans and are proud to have been able to provide this much-needed service to people throughout Arkansas,” said Tony Calandro, CEO of Healthy Connections, Inc. “By taking these tests on the road, we have been able to reach areas where access to testing is not as readily available.”

The testing tour began on May 21 with a stop in De Queen. The most patients tested in a single day was 415 in Hot Springs Village on May 29.

These tests done at pop-up testing sites are in addition to the hundreds of tests performed by Healthy Connections in its clinics throughout west and central Arkansas.

The testing sites are set up as drive-through events. Patients don’t even get out of their vehicles. Patients report this new Covid-19 test is much easier and less painful than other tests previously given. No insurance information is collected and patients are through the testing area and on their way in just a few minutes.

Results from these tests are being received on average in five to seven days.

Do you want to partner with Healthy Connections to bring the testing bus to your business or your hometown? Call us at 888-710-8220.

Healthy Connections clinics are open, safe, healthy, and here for the communities they serve. The Healthy Connections community health network is a federally-qualified health center (FQHC). Healthy Connections and Evolve Behavioral Health both accept Medicaid, ARKids 1^st, Medicare, and most private health insurance. There is also a sliding-fee scale for patients without health insurance who qualify. Medicaid patients may be required to switch their primary care provider to Healthy Connections before they can be seen. Learn more about Healthy Connections at www.healthy-connections.org.

Open for In-Clinic, TeleHealth Appointments, Testing

The Healthy Connections community health network is open and seeing patients both in the clinic and via telehealth, allowing patients to stay in contact with their providers. These services include evaluation and testing for COVID-19, regardless of symptoms.

This includes primary care, dental (emergency procedures now, full services May 18), behavioral health, and all specialties. This also includes surgical procedures related to gynecology, podiatry, and cardiology.

Call (888) 710-8220 for appointments. Healthy Connections, a nonprofit Federally Qualified Health Center, has clinic locations in Mena, Hot Springs, Little Rock, Malvern, Arkadelphia, Mount Ida, and De Queen. These clinics see patients for primary care/family medicine, including pediatrics-focused clinics in Hot Springs and De Queen. Find a location at www.healthy-connections.org/locations.

COVID-19 testing is no longer limited to high-risk patients only. If you are sick with respiratory symptoms, we can evaluate and test you for COVID-19. If you want to be tested, we will test you. Note that test results are being returned from the lab in an average of 24 to 72 hours.

Call (888) 710-8220 or make a Healthy Connections TeleHealth appointment at www.healthy-connections.org/telehealth. Many insurances are now covering this testing and waiving copays.

Any person who enters a Healthy Connections clinic will be screened for COVID-19 symptoms.

Healthy Connections specialties, including gynecology, podiatry, and cardiology have resumed full services, including surgeries. Patients having surgery will need to be tested for COVID-19 within 48 hours of their scheduled appointment time.

Healthy Connections also offers dental services in Hot Springs and Mena. These clinics are currently doing only emergency procedures (anything not considered routine such as check-ups and cleanings). Full dental services are expected to resume on May 18. Call (888) 710-8220 for info.

Additionally, Evolve Behavioral Health and Medication Management is also seeing patients both in the clinic and via telehealth at Healthy Connections locations in Mena, Hot Springs, Malvern, and Arkadelphia. Learn more about Evolve at www.evolvebhs.com.

Healthy Connections and Evolve accept Medicaid, ARKids 1^st, Medicare, and most private health insurance. There is also a sliding-fee scale for patients without health insurance who qualify. Medicaid patients may have to switch their primary care provider to Healthy Connections before you can be seen.

Learn more about Healthy Connections at www.healthy-connections.org.

Save Our Clinics: Congress Must Aid Health Centers

Community Health Centers of Arkansas CEO LaShannon Spencer wrote a guest column this week in Arkansas Democrat-Gazette / ArkansasOnline.com . Community Health Centers, like Healthy Connections, Inc., are doing everything we can to fight COVID-19, but we must survive and thrive after this crisis. We’re appreciative of what Congress has provided thus far, but Community Health Centers need much more help from Washington, D.C.

Click the link below to read the column in its entirety. Click here to learn more about Healthy Connections.

Save our clinics

Congress must aid health centers

LASHANNON SPENCER
SPECIAL TO THE DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

When the novel coronavirus hit Arkansas, community health centers rose to the challenge, immediately shifting our business model. Unlike some private providers restricting who they see, we’re proud that we test residents for COVID-19 while taking special precautions to still meet the traditional health-care needs of our loyal patients.

“I have seen several families who were just so grateful that they were being seen. We have had families tell us that they were turned away elsewhere,” reports Dr. Rebekah Beyers, a pediatrician for Community Clinic in Springdale. “One mother told us she trusted that we would not tell her to come in unless we thought it was important and that we would help to keep them safe. Trust from our patients is one of the best things we could hope for.”

Many don’t realize the reach and value of community health centers in Arkansas. Without us, the state’s general health and the economy would suffer.

The 11 members of the Community Health Centers of Arkansas offer COVID-19 testing sites across the state at more than 60 of our clinics—from Siloam Springs to Eudora and from De Queen to Corning.

Without a dependable source from the state or federal governments for personal protective equipment (often referred to as PPE), we’ve scoured hardware stores and asked community partners to help ensure our staff and the public are adequately protected. We’ve kept our clinics open with special screenings in tents or drive-up evaluations to limit access.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE COLUMN