Closure follows falling demand, Rollback of pre-Procedure Testing Requirements
Vermont Business Magazine UVM Medical Center’s COVID Testing Clinic on Blair Park in Williston will shut down effective today, Wednesday, February 15, medical center officials announced, saying falling demand for testing in the community, changes to pre-procedure COVID testing requirements at the Medical Center, and the widespread availability of at-home testing resources, have made the clinic unnecessary.
“People have ready access to antigen testing at pharmacies and grocery stories, so we’re really seeing the need for testing drop, which is a good sign,” said Lisa Goodrich, Vice President of Operations for UVM Health Network Medical Group, which runs the clinic.
Goodrich added that policy changes at the Medical Center, which several months ago rolled back requirements for patients to undergo pre-procedure COVID tests, also contributed to falling demand for the clinic’s services. UVM Medical Center has moved cautiously to roll back COVID-related screening and testing policies in recent months, even as state-run COVID test sites shut down in late June of 2022. The Medical Center stopped requiring pre-entry screenings in late January though patients and visitors are still required to mask and confirm that they are not experiencing any COVID-related symptoms upon entering Medical Center facilities.
“This is really symbolic of our organization moving past the pandemic response phase and into a new normal of operations,” said Goodrich, who noted that the test clinic has always required a physician’s order for testing and did not accept walk-ins. “We are incredibly proud of the members of our clinic team, who have done this work since the beginning of the pandemic, and want to thank them for their dedication and resilience.”
The test clinic has been operating since April of 2020, when it was located at Champlain Valley Fairgrounds, and staffed by a team of three employees. Goodrich said two of those employees would transition to other positions within UVM Medical Center later this month, and the third employee would be retiring following the test clinic’s closure.
Vermonters are reminded that all state COVID testing sites were closed as of June 25. State-run walk-in vaccination clinics closed on January 31.
About the University of Vermont Medical Center
The University of Vermont Medical Center is a 499-bed tertiary care regional referral center providing advanced care to approximately 1 million residents in Vermont and northern New York. Together with our partners at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, we are Vermont’s academic medical center. The University of Vermont Medical Center also serves as a community hospital for approximately 150,000 residents in Chittenden and Grand Isle counties.
The University of Vermont Medical Center is a member of The University of Vermont Health Network, an integrated system established to deliver high-quality academic medicine to every community we serve.
For more information visit www.UVMHealth.org/MedCenter or visit our Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blog sites at www.UVMHealth.org/MedCenterSocialMedia.
2.15.2023. Burlington, Vt. – UVM Medical Center
