The Bellingham location of our new mobile COVID-19 testing program will open to the public on Monday, August 17 at 211 East Champion Street. Tests will be available by appointment only.
Hours:
- Monday through Wednesday, August 17-19, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m
- Friday, August 21, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m
- Saturday, August 22, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m
Appointments are available every three minutes. You can schedule online at www.TestDirectly.com/whatcom or by calling (360) 778-6075 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. daily. Appointments for the following week will open each Saturday.
Anyone can get tested at no cost to them through the mobile testing program, including people without insurance or a physician referral.
- If you have insurance, you must provide insurance information for billing purposes when you schedule an appointment. People with insurance may be held responsible for the cost of a COVID-19 test if they do not provide their existing health insurance information.
- People without insurance can also be tested at no cost to them through a federal program that will reimburse the health department for all costs associated with the test.
While this program is designed to be a drive-through testing site, if you do not have access to a vehicle, accommodations will be made by calling (360) 778-6075. For assistance scheduling a test in a language other than English, language services are also available by calling (360) 778-6075.
Getting Your Test Results
We will call anyone with positive test results to notify them and provide information about how to safely isolate from others.
You also have the option to sign up for email notification of your test results.
- People who provide their email address when they register for an appointment online or by phone will get an email from TestDirectly with a link to receive their test results within 24 hours of being tested.
- People who do not provide an email while registering will be notified of their results by phone by WCHD within 72 hours.
Expanding Capacity; Reducing Barriers
The program will have capacity to serve up to 240 people each day next week while staff and volunteers from WCHD and WUC continue to fine-tune systems during this trial phase. COVID-19 testing at six additional Whatcom County locations - one in each school district - is expected to start as early as August 24, and the mobile testing program will soon be able to test up to 480 people each day.
The expanded testing available through the mobile testing program will improve access for people who have had a difficult time making an appointment with their provider or who need testing on short notice. This additional long-term testing option will address those barriers and add to the testing options already offered by Northwest Laboratory and healthcare providers in our community.
People who can get tested by their healthcare providers are encouraged to do so in order to reserve limited mobile testing resources for those without that option.
The mobile testing program will be managed by the WCHD and staffed by licensed medical professionals and trained WUC volunteers. Additional partners include Northwest Laboratory, which will process all specimens collected at the mobile testing sites, and TestDirectly, which provides the online registration and scheduling system.
For more information on the mobile testing program, other testing locations in Whatcom County, and testing FAQs, visit https://www.whatcomcounty.us/covidtesting.