November 18th, 2020 – Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter was joined by Good Samaritan Hospital President, Ruth Hennessey today, at a press conference announcing a pop-up COVID-19 drive thru testing site in Brentwood, NY.
Due to the high number of positive cases in the hamlet of Brentwood, increased testing and tracing of the community within and surrounding Brentwood, is a much-needed preventative health measure.
The Town of Islip and Good Samaritan Hospital have partnered to open this FREE COVID-19 testing site in Brentwood, with Federal funding made available through the Islip Community Development Agency. Tests are offered Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1 pm to 5 pm by appointment only. Those who test positive will be contacted via telephone within three to four days by Good Samaritan Hospital, and individuals who test negative will receive a letter in the mail in approximately a week, according to hospital officials.
“Funding for this kind of effort is particularly challenging in these fiscally difficult times. Unfortunately, the Town of Islip did not meet the threshold level for direct Cares Act funding, the entire $257M went to Suffolk County. Fortunately, the Town of Islip Community Development Agency did receive some Federal funding and this initiative, clearly falls under their mission of serving our communities,” said Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter.
“Two weeks ago, we had 5 patients that were hospitalized because of COVID. This morning, we had 28. The good news is that we now know much more about the disease, and how better to take care of it. So the incidence of critical-care-hospitalizations are much less than they were three or four months ago, so that’s good news,” said Ruth Hennessey, President, Good Samaritan Hospital.
Anyone wishing to make an appointment is asked to call 631-376-4444.
