Today, the first of ten planned state-run COVID-19 testing sites became operational at the University of Maryland (UM) Laurel Medical Center.
Governor Larry Hogan toured the Laurel site and discussed the need for additional hospital-based testing sites in a press release:
“One of the primary goals of these locations is to ease the burden on the hospitals and emergency rooms,” said Governor Hogan. “We are already getting reports that their emergency room traffic for testing has dropped dramatically as a result.”
The nine remaining testing sites are on track to be fully operational and open daily for walk-ups, with no appointment necessary, by the end of next week. Testing is currently available at the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health in Bel Air and at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis. The Administration intends to open testing sites at the following locations:
- UM Laurel Medical Center (Laurel)
- UM Charles Regional Medical Center (La Plata)
- UM Capital Region Medical Center (Largo)
- Doctors Community Hospital (Lanham)
- Meritus Health (Hagerstown)
- Frederick Health (Frederick)
- Johns Hopkins (Baltimore)
- University of Maryland Medical Center (Baltimore)
- MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital (Leonardtown)
- Northwest Hospital (Randallstown)
In addition to announcing new testing sites, Governor Hogan added:
- Surge testing will be available at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore City;
- 500,000 additional at-home rapid test kits will be available in the next week; and
- Testing has confirmed Omicron is the dominant COVID-19 variant in Maryland.
