Hy-Vee Offers Free COVID-19 Testing at 11 Pharmacies
Hy-Vee Inc. has begun COVID-19 testing at 11 Hy-Vee pharmacy locations throughout its eight-state footprint. The free tests are administered via a Hy-Vee pharmacy drive-thru process. People don’t have to have COVID-19 symptoms to be tested, but they need to register online to receive a test voucher number, testing site and appointment time.
The person will then arrive at the specified test site pharmacy drive-thru and provide either a printed voucher number or show the voucher number on their phone before receiving a test kit from a Hy-Vee pharmacy employee, who will explain how to self-administer the test and supervise the process. The individual will then drop off the completed kit in a collection bin. The entire test process takes about five minutes, and, according to the grocer, it can process 12 people per hour in this way. The Hy-Vee pharmacy collects all tests, which are then shipped to a lab via UPS. People should receive their results by email in three to five days.
Coordinated by Fort Worth, Texas-based eTrueNorth, the COVID-19 tests are available at Hy-Vee pharmacy locations in Chariton, Cherokee, Davenport, Iowa City and West Des Moines, Iowa; Rochester and Maple Grove, Minnesota; Kansas City, Missouri; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska. The pharmacies are offering testing windows from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and, at some locations, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., or 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., on Saturdays.
Hy-Vee Pharmacies have also begun offering drive-up flu vaccines at many pharmacies across the grocer’s market area.
Among food retailers, The Kroger Co. has been particularly active in the COVID-19 testing arena, offering by-appointment tests at 220 of its clinics, as well as an at-home test that yields results in 24-48 hours. So far, the grocer has administered 150,000 tests across 19 states. Kroger Health’s in-store clinics are able to test as many 5,000 patients per day.
Employee-owned Hy-Vee operates more than 265 retail stores across eight Midwestern states. The West Des Moines, Iowa-based company is No. 33 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 list of the top food retailers in the United States. Kroger is No. on PG’s list
