By Teddy Rydquist
Leader Staff Writer
Beginning next Monday, June 15, hair salons, barbershops and other personal service businesses can re-open, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced on June 5.
This is a big step in the right direction as Michigan seeks to return to normalcy. Despite this progress, we are not yet completely out of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) woods, however.
With many Oxford, and neighboring, residents still concerned about the spread of COVID-19, two local medical facilities are providing testing for the community. McLaren Radiology & Urgent Care, located at 385 N. Lapeer Road, and Oxford Urgent Care, 72 S. Washington Street, are testing daily.
“We are seeing people whether they are symptomatic or asymptomatic,” Sarah Horn, manager of MyHealth Urgent Care, shared.
Spanning Macomb and Oakland Counties and based in Rochester, MyHealth Urgent Care has more than a dozen locations.
“With the pandemic, a lot of people feel like they had it (COVID-19) at one point in time and are interested in the antibody test, which we provide, as well.
“We also see people prescription or no prescription. If they have a prescription, from, say, a primary care physician, we are able to bring them into the office and we conduct the testing curbside. So, we come out to the car, bring you your registration paperwork, just try to make it as easy as possible for everybody.”
Results are available in about 10 minutes, and the testing procedures themselves are timely, too.
“We have a couple of different ways of doing it,” Horn said. “We have the finger stick, so, it’s just a little finger poke and we gather some blood. Those, however, the accuracy is about 93-to-95-percent, so we recommend people follow up with a nasopharyngeal, which is that nose swab everybody has been talking about.”
Beginning this process in mid-March when COVID-19 moved to forefront of daily life, MyHealth is fortunately starting to see a leveling out of the number of test kits needed.
“In the beginning, unless you were essentially dying, they were not going to be performing any testing on you at the hospital because they were so inundated,” Horn recalled.
“We wanted to kind of be that liaison between the people and the hospitals, and once we started testing, it was incredible. We’re talking 90-to-100 patients a day.
“Over the last two weeks, the number of people wanting tests are becoming scarcer. What we’re seeing right now, with businesses starting to open back up, we’ve tailored a ‘Back to Work’ program. So, we’re reaching out to businesses in our communities and letting them know they can have their employees come and be tested, prior to the company’s re-opening.”
As is the case for Oxford residents dealing with the shutdown of local businesses, this was a new experience for MyHealth Urgent Care, too, one that required the ability to adapt on the fly to everchanging information.
“This was completely uncharted territory for us,” Horn said of the pandemic. “I came from orthopedics, so this was quite the incredible time to switch, right?
“It’s been really cool to see how everyone has come together. From our owners getting us the proper testing, to our staff who have selflessly put themselves out there day in and day out just trying to help patients, help one another. It’s a sad thing, but it’s kind of cool to see the way people band together during a time of crisis.”
In addition to the two Oxford sites, Total Urgent Care in Imlay City, the Lapeer Community Urgent Care Clinic, and Washington (Township) Urgent Care are also offering on-site testing for people in need.
Phone numbers are as follows:
McLaren Radiology & Urgent Care
248-628-3000
Oxford Urgent Care:
248-236-8333

  COVID-19