The University of Illinois and OSF Healthcare are partnering to expand the UI COVID-19 testing program into the Champaign County community.
Known as SHIELD CU, the locally developed saliva-based PCR COVID-19 test and digital infrastructure will be offered to public schools, businesses and organizations.
The initial participants of the SHIELD CU program will include students, teachers and staff at Urbana High School, Stratton Academy of the Arts, a public school in the Champaign Unit 4 School District, and employees of Champaign County, with plans to extend access to other Urbana-Champaign schools, underserved communities, local governments and businesses in the near future. Also included in the initial launch will be family and household members of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty, staff and students.
“We are very proud to partner with OSF HealthCare to help everyone in our community find a safer and a healthier way through COVID-19,” said Robert Jones, Chancellor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “We are excited to see the saliva-based test that we invented here at Illinois being used to help Champaign County.”
“If you think about our Mission to serve with the greatest care and love, it’s totally fitting that OSF has partnered with the University of Illinois to provide excellent guidance on testing and support resources that are necessary to handle this pandemic,” said John Vozenilek, M.D., chief medical officer, OSF HealthCare Innovation and Digital Health. “Our recovery is going to come to us through good access to testing and vaccination, and through best practices for keeping ourselves healthy.”
SHIELD CU participants will have access to the innovative Safer Community app, which will walk participants through the process. Safer Community is equipped to help participants find testing centers, learn the latest news about COVID-19 and its management, and receive their test results confidentially.
In the event of a positive COVID test result, information will be provided about next steps. Participants with positive COVID-19 tests will also gain automatic access to appropriate OSF HealthCare COVID-19 solutions. Coupled with the 24/7/365 convenience of OSF OnCall Urgent Care and in-person care at OSF Urgo, patients in the Champaign Urbana area have the ability to receive care when and where they need it – in person or virtually.
SHIELD CU aims to reduce the community COVID-19 positivity rate and keep it low.
At this time, the only testing site listed on the OSF site is the State Farm Center.
