Fraser Health expanding access to COVID-19 assessment and testing

“The strength of British Columbia’s COVID-19 response has been our ability to adapt and respond quickly to changing needs as the pandemic continues in our province,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “By extending hours of service and adding new locations, we are helping ensure that assessment and testing is broadly available to people experiencing symptoms, when they need it.” 

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have ensured assessment and testing is available to every person in our region who needs it. We closely monitor volumes and are responding to what we are seeing across our region,” said Dr. Victoria Lee, Fraser Health president and CEO. “To respond to an increased demand for testing, we are expanding services where they are needed to support people with quick access to assessment and testing, and ensure we are minimizing the risk of COVID-19 transmission in our communities.”

In response to increased demand for COVID-19 assessment and testing, Fraser Health has:

• Established greeters at the Langley and Burnaby assessment and testing centres to manage the lines and ensure only people with symptoms are there to be assessed and possibly tested.
• Increased staffing levels at the Burnaby assessment and testing centre, and increased access for assessment and testing by establishing new, extended operating hours of 12 noon to 8:30 p.m., seven days a week.
• Established new, extended operating hours of 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday to Friday and 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on Saturdays at the Delta assessment and testing centre to increase access to assessment and testing.
• Expanded the days of operation at the Chilliwack assessment and testing centre to include 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on Saturdays to increase access to assessment and testing.
• Established traffic control at the Langley assessment and testing centre to help streamline access to assessment and testing.
• Established a testing-only lane at the Surrey-Whalley Urgent and Primary Care Centre for people who have been directed by medical practitioners to receive a test without first receiving an assessment. This testing-only lane will help streamline access to testing at this location.

In the coming days and weeks we will increase our testing capacity by:

• Opening an additional two drive-through lanes at the Burnaby assessment and testing centre to increase access to assessment and testing.
• Increasing staffing levels at the Langley assessment and testing centre, and establishing new, extended hours of operation of 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., seven days a week. These new operating hours are expected to be in place in the coming weeks.
• Establishing new, extended hours of operation at the Abbotsford assessment and testing centre of 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., seven days a week. These new operating hours are expected to be in place in the coming weeks.
• Standardizing the service delivery model and data collection across all sites, to increase efficiency and help us identify where further enhancements need to be made.
• Establishing new, temporary high-volume assessment and testing centres in Surrey and the Fraser Northwest area to expand access to assessment and testing services in these areas where we have seen a substantially increased need.
• Centralizing pre-booking and pre-registration for COVID-19 assessment and testing to support people in having more streamlined, efficient access. This new model is currently in development, and will provide people with telephone and online access to book appointments and access user-friendly information about assessment and testing centre wait times.

Fraser Health has established 10 COVID-19 assessment and testing centres in our region, which are operated in partnership with local Divisions of Family Practice. These centres provide in-clinic assessment and testing, as well as drive-up assessment and testing in some locations. The 10 assessment and testing centres are located in Burnaby, Surrey, Delta, White Rock, Port Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, Langley, Mission, Abbotsford, and Chilliwack.

People living in the Fraser Health region can find information about assessment and testing centres by visiting Fraser Health’s website.

Help us spread the word about COVID-19 by:

• Visiting out website at fraserhealth.ca/covid19 for information you can trust about COVID-19.
• Posting and sharing English language as well as translated COVID-19-related materials in Punjabi, Hindi, Farsi, Simplified Chinese and Korean.

For more information about COVID-19, please visit fraserhealth.ca/covid19.