AUSTIN – COVID-19 point-of-care testing will be provided for assisted living facilities and nursing homes throughout the state.
Gov. Greg Abbott made the announcement Friday that Omnicare, a CVS Health company, is partnering with the state of Texas to provide the testing.
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The partnership will provide on-site, same-day testing and results for both facility staff and their residents, according to a release from the Office of the Governor.
“This partnership with Omnicare and CVS Health will increase COVID-19 testing in our assisted living facilities and nursing homes and help us protect vulnerable Texans from COVID-19,” Abbott said in a released statement. “Our collaboration with public and private entities is crucial to ramping up testing in Texas and mitigating the spread of this virus—especially among our most vulnerable populations.”
“At Omnicare, we are continuously exploring solutions to directly address availability and access to COVID-19 testing for the long-term-care industry,” Omnicare President Jim Love said in a released statement. “We recognize the disproportionate impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on these critically important healthcare facilities and their highly vulnerable patient population, and we are determined to be part of the solution as demand for testing continues to grow in this sector.”
The test sites help enable a goal of processing up to 100,000 tests in the first month alone, according to the release. Testing in assisted living facilities began Thursday.
State testing teams completed testing of all nursing home staff and residents in June at the direction of Abbott, according to the release. Omnicare will begin testing in nursing homes next week.
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