STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — For patients of Mount Nittany Health and Penn State Health, a drive-thru collection site should make testing for the novel coronavirus a little easier in the Centre County region. This collaboration is part of continued measures to protect patients, employees, providers and the community.
The testing site is in the parking lot at Mount Nittany Health - Blue Course Drive. This site will only be used by primary care patients from either health system who have received a confirmed appointment time at the collection site by their primary care provider. Patients must have a scheduled appointment in order to be tested. In addition, the CDC provides overall guidance for who should be tested, but decisions about testing are at the discretion of your primary care physician.
After patients receive their confirmed appointment time, they will visit the collection site set up outside of Mount Nittany Health – Blue Course Drive. Patients will drive through a series of three stations and be swabbed for testing without ever leaving their vehicles. Testing usually takes 20 to 30 minutes.
It is important to note that patients must first contact their Penn State Health or Mount Nittany Medical Group primary care physician to obtain an order as well as an appointment time for the test. Patients who do not have both the required order and appointment time slot will be referred out of the testing line.
Additional information including a map of the location and patient instructions may be found on the Mount Nittany Health website or the Penn State Human Resources COVID-19 webpage.