Pullman Regional Hospital will only see patients referred by physicians for COVID-19 testing because of WSU’s increased testing efforts.

Jeannie Eylar, PRH chief clinical officer, said the hospital’s COVID-19 drive-thru testing was open from Aug. 21 to Sept. 25 as a response to the spike of COVID-19 cases in Whitman County. PRH tested anywhere between 50 to 100 patients per day.

“In the last two weeks, it had really dropped off,” Eylar said. “The need just wasn’t there because WSU — both Cougar Health Services and the National Guard — got their testing sites up and going.”

People with doctor’s orders can get tested at PRH from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, she said. Testing costs $150, with or without insurance.

Eylar said patients need to park at PRH’s COVID-19 designated parking site, which is outside the emergency department. There is a posted number in the parking lot that patients need to call to notify the hospital of their arrival. Patients have the option of swabbing themselves.

“Right now, it is done in the parking lot,” she said. “We expect that we’re going to move that into our facility next week.”

From Sept. 16 to 29, PRH conducted a total of 1,028 COVID-19 tests. Eighty-nine of those tests were positive. PRH performed an average of 73 tests per day during that period with an 8.7 percent positivity rate, according to PRH’s website.