I have gotten 2 COVID tests in the past few weeks (no symptoms, just planning to start seeing my parents/in-laws again and wanted the reassurance before seeing them). I thought it would be useful to have a thread to share experiences at the various test sites in JH.
1) Stat Care Urgent Care (80-10 Northern Blvd)
-Required appointment which I made online
-Required I fill out registration and all paperwork online ahead of time
-I had to pay a $50 urgent care copay (the test itself is free but the urgent care billed for the actual visit)
-I was in and out in ~20 min
-Was told the results would take 3-5 days. I got tested on a Friday and my result was available on Healow (patient portal) on Monday. It might have been even quicker but they entered my email wrong in the registration so I couldn't log into the portal over the weekend.
2) Elmhurst Hospital (tent in front of ER entrance off Baxter Ave)
-No appointments
-Supposedly opened at 8am but they didn't open the tent until 8:50am. I got there at 8:05 and was 12th in line, there were another 20 people behind me by the time they opened the tent.
-Registration was the bottleneck, seemed like they were training a few new people this morning
-Staff was extremely nice and professional once I got inside, also very fastidious w protocols (changed gloves, purell-ed hands, and wiped chairs and pens w disinfecting wipes between every patient, tripled checked IDs to make sure patient labels were going on the right samples etc)
-Took my insurance info but it's not required and test is free, no cost for visit.
-Didn't leave testing site until 9:55a
-Was told results would be available online (MyChart) in 3-5 days, I can update with actual time when I get my results
-You can also get an antibody test if you request it but it's at a different location in the hospital, I didn't do it so don't have info about wait time/process