As of Aug. 26, individuals being referred to Unity Center for Behavioral Health will no longer require the respiratory PCR test as part of routine medical clearance. Instead, hospitals or providers referring patients will need to utilize symptom-based screening.

At the start of the pandemic, testing was put into place at Unity Center due to continued surges, new variants that caused severe disease, limited vaccination access, and low immunity. Because of its congregate setting, Unity Center has kept the testing requirement in place.

Since 2020, vaccines have become widely available, immunity has increased, we’ve seen variants with milder symptoms, and other factors that have led us to reevaluate and make changes in protocols over time.

As COVID-19 is now endemic in our population and the management of patients with COVID-19 has evolved, we will no longer require a test for every patient receiving care at Unity Center as of Aug. 26. Testing will continue to be required for patients who are symptomatic and should be considered for patients who have recent exposure or are unable to provide a reliable medical history.

Patients who test positive within 24 hours of admission will be transferred back to the referring facility. All other patients who test positive during their admission are transferred to a partner hospital per the Unity Transfer Protocol.

Testing all patients may needlessly put asymptomatic patients in isolation while delaying admission to Unity Center and urgently needed behavioral health treatment.

There is a helpful FAQ document available to help guide through this change in process. If you have questions, please contact Unity Center leadership or Infection Control and Prevention.