PRESS RELEASE

Long Beach, CA - Following Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent announcement to add more than 80 community testing sites across the state focused on underserved communities, Long Beach will launch a testing site at Jordan Plus High School (171 W. Bort St.). The new testing site will open on April 30. This new site is one of 80 testing sites powered through a partnership with OptumServe, the federal government health services business of Optum, a leading health services innovation company.

“We are grateful to Governor Newsom and the County of Los Angeles for establishing this test site in Long Beach, which will allow many residents to get tested,” said Mayor Robert Garcia. “Increasing testing capacity is critical to tracking, controlling and preventing the spread of COVID-19.”

Testing will take place at Jordan Plus High School, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, with parking available onsite. Staff will administer the nasal-pharyngeal swab test. Appointments are required. Below is key information about the new testing site:

• Testing on April 30 and May 1 at Jordan Plus will only be available to front line workers including first responders, critical government personnel, health care professionals and grocery workers.
  • Individuals may be asymptomatic.
  • Appointments can only be scheduled via phone. 
  • The phone line to schedule appointments will become active on April 29. At that time, essential workers can call (888) 634-1123 to make an appointment for April 30 and May 1.
• Beginning May 4, members of the community experiencing symptoms, in addition to essential workers, can begin to utilize the testing site at Jordan Plus.
  • The appointment scheduling platform will become active online May 2 for appointments the following week. 
• This new site will provide more access to testing and adds capacity to allow for increased testing of long-term care staff and residents.
• While the new location is situated in Long Beach, it is not limited to Long Beach residents, and will be convenient to those living in Signal Hill, Rancho Dominguez, Compton, Carson and Bellflower, among other nearby cities.
• Establishing the new site aligns with Governor Newsom’s plan for accelerating equitable COVID-19 testing; establishing a contact tracing workforce; developing isolation protocols and supports; and deploying data management systems and tools.

To determine where to locate new testing sites, the State looked at both rural and urban areas throughout California. Information was then evaluated based on underserved populations, to address known disparities and median income, so residents have access to testing regardless of socioeconomic status.

OptumServe has extensive expertise in rapidly deploying and setting up health care services and has worked closely with the military under the leadership of former Army Surgeon General and retired Lieutenant General Patty Horoho, RN.

“OptumServe is honored to assist California in expanding COVID-19 testing for residents,” said Patty Horoho, CEO of OptumServe. “We are bringing our full commitment and capabilities to serve Californians, including extensive experience conducting large community health events.”

The new site will initially have the capacity to administer 132 tests per day. The Health and Human Services Department also is working with Long Beach City College to open a new site at Veterans Memorial Stadium with an estimated 100 tests daily. The City plans to open this site within the next week. Once the two new sites are established, the City will have the capacity to test more than 700 people per day, in addition to the approximately 250 people per day who can be tested at St. Mary Medical Center.

For the latest information on COVID-19, with details on all that the City of Long Beach is doing to keep its residents safe, visit: longbeach.gov/COVID19 and follow @LongBeachCity on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.