By COVID-19 testing centers across Orange Country are seeing record wait times. To ease the pressure on local clinics, one ER nurse set up her own testing facility — in her driveway.
“My whole thing was, let’s do it for the community, and let’s see if this community accepts us,” Felicia Meyers said.
Meyers explained that the project is personal to her and that the idea came to her when her spouse had difficulty getting a COVID test.
“My husband was exposed a few times, and he went to get tested, and the wait times were long—he was in one of the doctor’s offices or one of the urgent care offices for over five hours just waiting for a test,” Meyers said.
So she came up with the idea of doing COVID testing for the community for $50 a test, she added.
Meyers set up a tent at the end of her driveway in the Waterford Lakes subdivision, off of Lake Underhill Road.
People drive up, fill out a form that contains insurance information, and then she swabs them in their car, she explained.
Meyers claims that customers receive their results in 15 minutes and that she then sends the results to the state.
“They asked for my credentials. I showed them my CLIA lab certificate and let them know that we are legit and we’re able to run the tests,” Meyers said.
Her CLIA certificate of waiver, which is what she needs according to the Agency for Health Care Administration, allows her to operate as a laboratory.
Meyers said she saw a need in the community and will continue to help.
