Starting Thursday, March 26, Murfreesboro Medical Clinic will provide on-site, drive-through, testing for COVID-19. Drive-through testing will be located in the south parking lot at MMC's main location on 1272 Garrison Drive and will be open Monday – Friday, 9:00am – 3:00pm.

"My team has been working tirelessly over the past two and a half weeks to assemble a coalition of partners to provide this needed service for our community," said Dr. Nicholas Coté, Family Medicine Physician and MMC Board President. "Rutherford County is my home, where my family and friends live, it is very personal and important to me to ensure that my organization is taking all measures possible to ensure the health and welfare of my community."

In our community, there has been confusion around the difference between screening and testing.

• Screening is a questionnaire to evaluate symptoms and risk of exposure.
• Testing is the actual swab used to collect the sample, which is then sent off to a laboratory.

PLEASE NOTE: NOT EVERYONE WILL BE TESTED.

Until testing kits become readily available, MMC will only be testing those who have been screened and referred by the Rutherford County Health Department or local physicians.

In order to be tested on-site at MMC, patients must follow the instructions below.

Patients MUST be screened by the following and have a referral to be tested:

• To be screened by the Rutherford County Health Department please call, (615) 898-7880.
• At this time only a handful of local provider offices will be able to refer patients to MMC for testing. This is subject to change.
• Once patients have been screened and referred for testing, they will receive a text message with registration information that must be completed in order to be tested.

General Public who have not been screened and do not have a referral will not be allowed to enter the drive-through line.

The public will only need to be screened and/or possibly tested if they are symptomatic and exposed to a person known to have tested positive COVID-19.

Screening questions include:

1. Fever
2. New Dry Cough
3. Shortness of breath
4. Exposure to a person known to have tested positive for COVID-19, not speculated, only confirmed to be positive
5. Has returned from international travel or a cruise within the last 2 weeks

Once patients are tested, they are to immediately head home and self-isolate until notified of their test results. MMC will be calling with test results as they are received. The current turnaround time is 5-7 days. This is subject to change dependent upon volume.

MMC's Drive-through testing would not be possible without a coalition of partners -- Rutherford County Health Department, Tennessee Department of Health, Murfreesboro City Police, Quest Laboratory, and Genetworx Laboratory -- who are supporting this effort. 

The testing site will be accessible off of Carl Adams Drive from Kennedy Drive. There will be no access to Carl Adams Drive from Garrison Drive.