Cashman Center to replace Texas Station as coronavirus testing site
The drive-thru coronavirus testing site at Texas Station is relocating indoors next week to Cashman Center, ending a roughly monthlong operation at the hotel-casino’s parking garage in favor of a site to escape triple-digit temperatures, Clark County said Monday.
“The new location at Cashman Center gives us the opportunity to move indoors out of the heat and into a more comfortable, customer-friendly setting,” county Commission Chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick said in a statement.
To be set up in Exhibit Hall A on the north side of the Cashman Center facility, 850 Las Vegas Blvd. North, the new testing site is expected to officially open Aug. 4. As officials prepare to launch the new location, Texas Station will not be reopened this week.
When the Cashman Center testing facility does open next week, its hours will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Until it is ready, officials say that the public can find available testing through the Southern Nevada Health District at www.SNHD.info/covid and by using the state’s test locator tool at www.healthresponse.nv.gov.
Symptomatic, exposed patients prioritized
The Cashman Center testing site, located within Las Vegas city limits just north of downtown, will be operated by the county and other community partners, which have conducted more than 121,000 tests throughout Southern Nevada since May 5.
Setting appointments to be tested, which is encouraged, will soon be available through University Medical Center’s website at www.umcsn.com or by calling UMC at 702-383-2619.
The Cashman site, which is also open to children, will have a walk-up testing station to accept some people on a first-come, first-served basis each day depending on available supplies and staffing, and separate areas to accommodate people with and without symptoms.
But as large numbers of people seek out testing both locally and throughout the U.S., causing longer waits for lab results to be processed, health officials are requesting that, when possible, appointments be saved for members of the public with COVID-19 symptoms and those who have been exposed to the virus.
It’s part of UMC’s recent adjustment of testing policies to reflect the latest guidance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that highest-risk patients have convenient access to testing.
Individuals with severe symptoms, such as shortness of breath or chest pains, should seek immediate emergency medical attention, according to Dr. Fermin Leguen, the acting chief health officer of the Southern Nevada Health District.
People who believe they may have been exposed to the virus should stay home for 14 days as they await test results “out of an abundance of caution,” he added.
Local health and government officials are also appealing to people to continue to be proactive in slowing the spread of the virus by wearing face coverings in public, practicing social distancing and regularly washing hands.
Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ on Twitter.
Additional resources
For general questions about the coronavirus, call the health district's information line at 702-759-4636 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. For social service support in self-isolation, contact Nevada 211 for resource referrals.
Information about coronavirus resources is also available in Spanish through the "Esta En Tus Manos" campaign at www.estaentusmanosnevada.com.
The Community Health Center also offers a free telehealth service by phone or computer for uninsured patients regardless of their ability to pay: www.southernnevadahealthdistrict.org/southern-nevada-community-health-center.
And UMC provides telehealth assessments for symptomatic patients, and health care providers offer referrals for testing at UMC Quick Care sites. Call 702-383-1800 to schedule an appointment or visit UMCSN.com to learn more.
Source: Clark County
