The COVID-19 testing site at FairOaks Mall has closed its doors even though the Indiana State Department of Health’s website says it is open through the end of the month.
The site, which was located in the former JC Penney store, closed May 31, said FairOaks Mall General Manager Kim Showalter.
City officials and the Bartholomew County Health Department said they were not involved with the decision to close the site, which was operated by state contractor OptumServe.
In a statement released Thursday, the Indiana State Department of Health said it was shutting down the OptumServe sites effective June 30, “now that a robust community-led testing network is in place, including pharmacies, providers, clinics and local health departments.”
Since May 6, 2020, more than 541,000 free COVID-19 tests have been provided at an OptumServe site, state health officials said in the statement.
At its peak, OptumServe provided testing in 53 counties, and currently, 30 counties have an OptumServe testing site. Throughout 2020 and early 2021, more community-based providers, clinics and pharmacies have been able to offer COVID-19 testing, reducing the need for Optum sites, state health officials said. In addition, local health departments received state grants in the fall of 2020 to open nearly 100 testing sites. To find a testing site, visit coronavirus.in.gov.
Bartholomew County Health Officer Dr. Brian Niedbalski said he was unaware of any plans to set up another testing site in the county. However, Niedbalski said demand for COVID-19 testing, in general, is currently low.
“The demand for testing is low at this time, but if cases begin to escalate again in the near future, the state may expand testing sites,” Niedbalski said.
In April 2020, the Indiana State Department of Health signed a contract with OptumServe, a subsidiary of United Health Group, to expand COVID-19 testing in the state as coronavirus infections swept across the state and country.
Initially, OptumServe testing sites were located at 20 Indiana National Guard armories across the state, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal.
The Indiana National Guard armory at 2160 Arnold St. in Columbus was among the initial 20 testing sites. The number of sites was later expanded, though it is unclear how many are still operating.
In August, the Columbus site was moved to the largely vacant FairOaks Mall because it was more centrally located and had air conditioning, city officials said in a previous interview.
“We let them have it as long as they needed it,” said Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop. “…We’re glad to have been able to have offered the help while we could.”
At least 43,175 COVID-19 tests have been administered to Bartholomew County residents over the course of the pandemic, with at least 8,149 of them coming back positive, though not all of those were done at FairOaks Mall, according to state records.
However, the number of tests administered to Bartholomew County residents has declined since the winter surge, reaching a seven-day average of 104 daily tests on June 2, down from 288 on April 13 and 631 on Nov. 24, state records show.
COVID-19 testing is still being done through Columbus Regional Health and the Bartholomew County Health Department.
Additionally, some local pharmacies are advertising COVID-19 testing.
The CVS pharmacy at 2423 N. National Road was listed as offering rapid-result COVID-19 testing, while the CVS at 4495 State Road 46 on the city’s west side was listed as offering drive-thru testing.
Both had open appointments on Thursday, according to the pharmacy chain’s website.
The Walgreens pharmacies at 2140 W. Jonathan Moore Pike and 2400 Beam Road were listed as offering rapid tests and had “many appointments available,” according to their website.
