Just one week after COVID-19 hit the Milwaukee region, Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers began offering drive-through testing and quickly opened two additional sites. Since March, Sixteenth Street has tested more than 15,400 people for COVID-19. Approximately 30% of those tests came back positive.
Sixteenth Street serves the south side of Milwaukee and Waukesha from 12 clinic locations in the region including: four full-service clinics, a behavioral health clinic, a satellite geriatric clinic and six in-school clinics.
“As trailblazers, the tent team adapted to changing guidelines and unknowns to create a seamless, safe drive-through process,” said Alison True, director of communications at Sixteenth Street. “The team has been outside, rain or shine, day in and day out. They have weathered literal storms, extreme heat and tents flying away.”
For months, the team has provided care and hope to patients facing impossible situations. They feel the suffering as well.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and the City of Milwaukee Health Department recognized Sixteenth Street for their practices and standards – particularly as Milwaukee’s south side continues to be one of the areas hardest hit by the pandemic.
In response to rising cases, Sixteenth Street also recently announced their plans to open two weather-appropriate structures to house COVID-19 testing and follow-up care throughout the winter months.
“The team’s strong sense of responsibility and love for this community is deeper than their own stress,” True said. “It brings them together and creates an unbreakable bond of support and understanding. They know they are the difference and they will never stop fighting for the health and safety of our community.”
