In just one month, Primary Health Network (PHN), Pennsylvania’s largest community health center, has distributed over 8,000 at-home rapid COVID-19 tests across their service areas. Tests were provided free of charge to the community through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) COVID-19 Testing Supply Program. Across the country, many Americans are having difficulty accessing COVID-19 tests amid the ongoing surge in cases driven by the Omicron variant. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in partnership with the Department of Defense, is now working with all HRSA-supported community health centers like Primary Health Network to expand access by distributing self-tests at no cost to health center patients and community members. PHN has also begun partnering with local community service agencies to distribute testing kits, which in turn will expedite the distribution process within our communities.
Dr. George Garrow, PHN’s Chief Medical Officer, states, “PHN is honored and grateful to be a steward of HRSA’s COVID-19 Testing Supply Program. The program is intended to ensure COVID-19 at-home self-tests are made available to health center patients and community populations in need of testing, especially those populations considered to be at the greatest risk of adverse outcomes related to COVID-19.”
Primary Health Network provides primary and specialty care services to over 75,000 people each year throughout 16 counties in Pennsylvania and one in Ohio, including those areas considered geographically isolated, medically underserved, and vulnerable. According to HHS, two-thirds of the population served by community health centers are living in poverty, 62% are racial and/or ethnic minorities, and nearly 1.3 million are homeless. Throughout the US, these health centers are working to ensure access to quality health care services and improve health outcomes for an estimated 62 million Americans.
Self-testing COVID-19 kits will be replenished periodically, and as PHN receives additional shipments from HRSA, tests will be distributed on a first come, first served basis. To minimize potential exposure to COVID-19, PHN is requesting that anyone who is interested in receiving a self-testing kit please refrain from going directly to one of our locations. Rather, please call the centralized COVID-19 department at 724-699-9211, option 1.
For more information on Primary Health Network and its services, please visit primary-health.net.
After over 37 years of service, Primary Health Network has grown to become the largest FQHC in Pennsylvania and one of the largest in the nation. Last year, PHN reached over 75,000 patients in 16 counties in Pennsylvania and one county in Ohio. PHN participates in most managed care plans, processes most insurances, and offers a Sliding Fee Discount to eligible patients.