Free Forest Hills COVID Testing Site Opens Amid Pleas From Locals

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — A new, free COVID site is open in Forest Hills, following calls from neighbors for more local, accessible testing options.

LIJ Forest Hills, a local Northwell Health hospital, will administer PCR coronavirus tests at MacDonald Park seven days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., or until tests run out, a spokesperson told Patch. There is not a specific day when this site is planning to end operations, the spokesperson said.

The walk-in site is free and does not requires photo identification, according to one of the organizers. People who are insured are required to bring proof of insurance, but the site will provide testing to uninsured people too, a Northwell Health spokesperson said.

News of the site comes after a COVID testing mix-up earlier this week, when New York City's Test and Trace Corps listed a Forest Hills church as offering daily PCR tests during the week of Jan. 3rd; the church, however, is not offering testing this week. (NYC Test and Trace later removed the church from its testing list.)

Neighbors have recently been protesting what they say is a lack of city-run testing options in Forest Hills, where COVID positivity levels skyrocketed amid the city's latest omicron-induced coronavirus wave.

A group of local politicians worked with Northwell Health to get the testing site at MacDonald Park up and running.

Among them is newly-appointed City Council Member Lynn Schulman, who vowed to make hospital capacity and healthcare access a part of her time in office.

Schulman told Patch that testing is the "key" to New Yorkers' wellbeing and the city's ongoing pandemic recovery.

Learn more about Northwell Health COVID-19 testing here and see a flyer for the MacDonald Park community testing site here. To find another place to get tested for COVID-19, use the city's official map or visit a walk-in Health + Hospitals site. To get vaccinated or boosted, visit vaccinefinder.nyc.gov.

Related Article: 'People Are Mad:' Mix-up At City-Run COVID Site In Forest Hills