Mass General Brigham Supports COVID-19 Testing Initiative in Lawrence

City Invests $1M for COVID-19 Testing in Effort to Test 1,000 Lawrence Residents Per Day

Mayor Daniel Rivera, with Governor Charlie Baker, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders, Deborah Wilson, President and CEO of Lawrence General Hospital, Mass General Brigham and community healthcare partners, announced the opening of the Lawrence Community COVID-19 Testing Center, a Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing site for Lawrence residents at a press conference earlier today. The City of Lawrence will invest $1M to test 1,000 Lawrence residents daily and has contracted with Lawrence General Hospital to operationalize the Testing Center. “Lawrence is currently a hotspot for Coronavirus cases, 5th in the state for total people affected and 4th per-capita. In order to stop the spread and keep everyone safe, testing is a major factor in the menu of strategies we must be doing,” said Mayor Rivera. “Not since the Civil War have we had this level of crisis across our nation. Until we stood up this testing site, roughly 180 tests per day were being conducted on Lawrence residents. Testing 1,000 residents per day ensures our community has ample access to testing.”

Lawrence General Hospital will operationalize the testing site, with community health care partners including physicians from the Mass General Brigham network and Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, who will lead the contact-tracing efforts launched this week with Partners In Health.

Each individual being tested will also receive a Care Kit, supplied by Mass General Brigham, consisting of several masks, hand sanitizer, soap, bottle of water, and educational materials about COVID-19 infections, isolation of infected individuals, social distancing, handwashing, and available local support services, all in both English and Spanish.

Lynn Stofer, President of Mass General Brigham Community Physicians Organization said: “Our health system is committed to bringing every resource possible to combat the COVID-19 crisis, especially in communities like Lawrence that have been among the hardest hit. Efforts like this partnership are crucially important. As we all know, testing is an essential tool in the battle against COVID-19 and we believe that this initiative will go a long way in helping us to flatten the curve in Lawrence and ultimately in defeating this virus.”

The Details:

Testing Site Hours:

• Monday-Friday from 9am-5pm (Symptomatic residents only. This includes symptomatic children of all ages that reside in Lawrence.). Appointments will be provided to ensure easy access and minimize wait times.

• Saturdays and Sundays from 10am-2pm: Testing for first responders. A confirmed appointment is still required.
  Asymptomatic Testing Coming Soon

Testing Requirements:

• All City of Lawrence residents with symptoms.

• All City of Lawrence residents regardless of symptoms identified through official contact tracing.

• Any individuals requiring a test will need to contact their primary care physician to have an order submitted to the Lawrence General testing operations center. Physicians are asked to submit the patient’s order for testing by calling Lawrence General Hospital’s COVID-19 testing team at 978-946-8409.

• Individuals who are identified through contact tracing will receive a call to schedule an appointment for testing.

• Individuals may also call the COVID-19 Community Screening Line at 978-946-8409 to request information on testing.

Media Contact

Partners Media Contacts:
Rich Copp rcopp@partners.org
Bridget Perry bperry7@partners.org

City of Lawrence Contact:
Kate Reilly kreilly@cityoflawrence.com
Phone: 978-620-3013