CHH testing site closes, mayor issues proclamation

Jul. 1—GOSHEN — Thursday marked the final day of testing for The Center for Healing and Hope's COVID-19 testing site, last located at Silverwood Mennonite Church, 1745 W. Lincoln Ave., Goshen.

"It's good news for us in some ways and in other ways it feels like, you know, there are still people getting COVID, but we need to go back to our focus of treating people who are uninsured and low income," said CHH's executive director Missy Schrock.

Toward the end, testing at the site ranged from two to 20 per day and it's been that way for several months, since the February and March spike ended.

"In some ways it's bittersweet, because we feel like we've contributed something to the health and wellbeing of area, but it also has been a lot of work for a small organization," Schrock said.

Since May 5, 2020, the Center for Healing and Hope, which did both antibody and PCR testing, took around 70,000 samples in those 25 months. Some came from the same people, coming back many times due to suspected illness, from people whose jobs required it weekly or people who got both the antibody and the PCR test. Some of the samples were blood tests, rapid tests and even others were flu.

"It's concerning that there's still cases popping up all over the place and I think this is going to be with us for a while, but I think it's probably time for regular doctor's offices and the health system and other places where you would normally have a test for strep or flu to just sort of be the place where people go," she said.

The decision to close the testing site came about due to a decrease in state grant funding geared at COVID-19 testing. The Indiana Department of Health and the Elkhart County Health Department had supplied the grant starting in September 2020. It was renewed twice and could have been renewed another time, but this time the center would have received only half the money.

"It just felt like we couldn't take on what it takes to run the testing site, especially if we get another surge, that money would be gone like that," Schrock explained.

During the height of the pandemic, the site saw "hundreds a day," Schrock said, and that on their highest day, the site saw over 500 people in need of COVID-19 testing.

Now, with days where testing numbers by day have dropped marginally, the center feels like it's time to go back to their original mission.

"It feels like as good a time as any to close a testing site and we still feel a responsibility to the community and there's where we're excited to get back to our core programming, which is providing healthcare for uninsured people in the community, which there are thousands of in Elkhart County," said Daniel Tackett, director of Marketing & Development for CHH.

The location of the testing site moved twice over its 25 months. At first, testing was done in this Plymouth United Church of Christ parking lot, and then it moved to Shanklin Park, and then to it final site at the Silverwood United Methodist Church parking lot. Parking was a problem for a long time due to the high number of tests, but Tackett said for the most part, people remained understanding.

"Even when the traffic was backing up on some of those roads, the overwhelming response was very positive and supportive and we just hope that people see our organization for what we are," Tackett said. "We just want to help people in the community. Our mission is to meet people's needs in the community and this was a need that needed to be met."

The clinic itself underwent radical changes during the pandemic as well. In April 2021, they moved to their new location at 400 W. Lincoln Ave., Goshen. With the move came changes in personnel and an increased capacity — tripling the number of exam rooms to nine and doubling the number of staff providers to four, where they're continue to grow.

"We're still sort of ramping up and hoping to fill up our provider schedules and we're in the process of wanting to purchase the building because right now we're on a lease," Schrock explained. "We moved because we had the opportunity to occupy a space that is an actual medical facility and it was totally voluntary."

On Thursday, volunteers, staff, partner organizations, city representatives and the public came out to the CHH's building to hear Goshen Mayor Jeremy Stutsman read a proclamation naming June 30, 2022, "Center for Healing & Hope Day," in memory of the final day of the clinic and in gratitude for all of the work done by the organization.

"We really felt we needed to mark this point in time to say we're turning a corner here and just bring some closure to this," Schrock said.

When CHH told city officials and partners that they were ready to close the site, Schrock said they received nothing but support.

"We have a lot of gratitude for the people that have partnered with us — the volunteers and the city and the churches and the parks department and the health department," she said. "We did our best in a situation that nobody had been in before and it felt really good to be able to do it and it feels good to be able to say we're going to stop now and to mark it."

"We just hope that people will continue to support our organization," Tackett added said. A result of the center doing the testing, they received a lot of publicity but Tackett says they were never in it for the publicity.

The Elkhart County Health Department reminds residents that there is still a free drive-thru testing locations for both PCR and rapid testing at the Beacon Aquatics Center parking lot, 200 E. Jackson Blvd., Elkhart. The site is open from noon to 6 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, excluding July 4.

COVID-19 testing is also available at CVS locations, Walgreens locations, Goshen Urgent Care locations, Physician's Urgent Care locations, Lutheran Health Network locations, the Center for Healing and Hope, and Elkhart Clinic, although a service fee may apply and a physician visit may be required. Primary care providers may also have ability to test.

At-home COVID-19 test kits are available for pickup at the Elkhart County Health Department, 608 Oakland Ave., Elkhart; Bristol Public Library, 505 W. Vistula St.; Elkhart Public Library, 300 S. Second St.; Goshen Public Library, 601 S. Fifth St.; Middlebury Public Library, 101 Winslow St.; and Nappanee Public Library, 157 N. Main St. Sites listed are not testing sites and only offer at-home kits.

Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.