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By NATHAN HOWELL | Special to the Reporter

Helena – The It’s About Time Urgent Care in Helena is now offering COVID-19 testing for individuals displaying symptoms of the virus.

The location began offering appointment only testing at its facility on March 23 and plans to continue until there is no longer a need or supplies are unavailable.

“As this pandemic has developed and we began to recognize that more testing needed to be performed, especially in our community. So we started developing a process to be able to test within our community,” said Dr. Debbie Stanford, It’s About Time owner.

To create an appointment patients will need to sign up with a link through the business’s webpage. A provider will then reach out and determine the priority level of any given patient. Then priority candidates will be contacted with an appointment time and more instructions.

“You will be advised about traffic flow. This testing is all happening out of the back of the clinic. So you will be advised how to approach the clinic. You will need to bring a tissue so you can cover your nose, you will keep your window up and show your ID through the window,” Stanford explained.  For the testing you will roll your window down about 6 inches and they will take the sample.”

Patients should receive the results of their tests within a few days. Anyone who takes a test is advised to self-quarantine until the result of the test comes back.

Stanford estimates that the facility has done about 60 tests since they began on Monday.

The facility has managed to stay stocked on supplies in no small part because of donations from Helena citizens.

“If you do not have insurance we are asking for a $25 screening fee,” according to a Facebook post by It’s About Time. “The lab will bill you directly for the test if it is not covered by government funding.”

The office is located at 225 Helena Market Place next to the Walmart Neighborhood Market.

For more information on making an appointment for testing you can visit Itsabouttimeuc.com or at Facebook.com/itsabouttimeuc.