3 Peoria-area COVID test sites won't reopen in 'foreseeable future' due to investigation
PEORIA – Three COVID-19 testing sites in central Illinois will remain closed because of “concerning issues.”
Located at 4410 N. Knoxville Ave. and 8847 N. Knoxville Ave. in Peoria, and 252 E. Washington St. in East Peoria, the three testing sites were part of a chain of operations run by the Center for COVID Control, a company based in Rolling Meadows. All of the company's Illinois testing operations have been shut down by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul “for the foreseeable future.”
“I opened an investigation into the Center for COVID Control in response to our residents contacting my office to report a number of concerning issues at the Center for COVID Control’s pop-up COVID-19 testing locations throughout Illinois," Raoul said in a statement. “Complaints have ranged from testing results being delayed or not received at all, to results being provided to individuals who were never administered a test, to tests being stored improperly and staff incorrectly using PPE and face masks.”
More: Company behind Peoria COVID testing 'fraudulently reported negative test results,' complaint says
The Center for COVID Control suspended operations in Illinois last week. After attorneys from the Consumer Fraud Division interviewed former employees, the company agreed to remain closed.
Illinois is not the only state investigating the Center for COVID Control, which has more than 300 locations nationwide and collected 80,000 tests a day, according to USA TODAY. The company is under investigation by the Minnesota Attorney General's Office, the Oregon Department of Justice, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which documented numerous "deficiencies" at the company's main lab, Doctors Clinical Lab. The lab has been reimbursed more than $124 million from the federal government's COVID-19 uninsured program, according to public data, and private health insurers also paid the lab.
Illinois residents Akbar Syed and Aleya Siyaj own the company. In recent months, the couple has purchased a number of luxury vehicles and a $1.36 million mansion, according to USA TODAY.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: 3 Center for COVID Control sites near Peoria will remain closed
