Texas partners with Omnicare to provide COVID-19 testing for nursing home patients, staff

AUSTIN, Texas - On Friday, Gov. Abbott announced that the State of Texas will be providing with CVS healthcare company, Omnicare, to provide point-of-care testing for assisted living facilities and nursing homes throughout the state.

According to the state, the partnership will provide on-site same-day testing and results for both facility staff and their residents.

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"At Omnicare, we are continuously exploring solutions to directly address availability and access to COVID-19 testing for the long-term-care industry," said Jim Love, Omnicare President. "We recognize the disproportionate impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on these critically important healthcare facilities and their highly vulnerable patient population, and we are determined to be part of the solution as demand for testing continues to grow in this sector."

Testing at the centers began on July 9 and will help enable the goal of processing up 100,000 tests in the first month alone.

This announcement comes the same day as Gov. Abbott extends his disaster declaration for all Texas counties in response to COVID-19.

Gov. Abbott issued a proclamation on Friday to extend the declaration that was originally issued on March 13. The declaration provides state resources to help mitigate the spread of the virus.

"This partnership with Omnicare and CVS Health will increase COVID-19 testing in our assisted living facilities and nursing homes and help us protect vulnerable Texans from COVID-19," said Gov. Abbott. "Our collaboration with public and private entities is crucial to ramping up testing in Texas and mitigating the spread of this virus-especially among our most vulnerable populations."

FOX 7 Discussion: Protecting nursing home populations

State Representative James Talarico joins FOX 7 Austin's Marcel Clarke to talk about what the state of Texas is doing to protect vulnerable populations, including those who live in nursing homes.

State testing teams completed testing of all nursing home staff and residents in June at the direction of Governor Abbott.

The state says Omnicare will begin testing in nursing homes next week.

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