SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—Santa Cruz County and California health officials are recommending that anyone needing a Covid-19 test get it from a sanctioned provider, after an unsanctioned company set up pop-up testing sites in Santa Cruz and Watsonville last week.
That company, Encinitas-based Community Wellness America (CWA), does not have a California clinical laboratory license or registration to perform testing in California, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), which confirmed in an email that it is investigating the company.
No license is required to collect samples and send them to a lab, however, the CDPH says. Santa Cruz County has no regulations governing the collection of samples to be sent to a lab.
County spokesman Jason Hoppin says that the county has a list of sanctioned providers on its website.
“If you want to make sure you’re going to a reputable provider, go to our website and get a test from one of those providers,” he said.
CWA CEO Steve Sterling, who calls himself a licensed acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist on his voicemail message, did not respond to a call for comment. The company did not respond to several messages left on its main phone number.
Santa Cruz County is not the first place where the company has raised concerns. In a Jan. 10 letter to CWA, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu states that on Jan. 5, the company set up “unlawful” testing sites in Golden Gate park and elsewhere in the city.
“During this Omicron surge, ensuring the integrity of our COVID testing operations is of the utmost importance,” Chiu wrote in a letter posted to that city’s website. “Our testing capacity is stretched to the maximum right now, and there is understandable anxiety about finding a test. It is unconscionable that rogue actors would exploit that situation and set up unlicensed testing facilities to turn a quick profit.”
Chiu also states that the company had a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA) license—expired in November 2021—which was issued to a company called Crestview Clinical Laboratories. A representative from Crestview told the San Francisco Chronicle that they were unaware Community Wellness America was using a license with its name, and that they should be “shut down immediately.”
The CDPH says that pop-up sites such as CWA have generated questions and concerns about business practices related to pricing, the validity of tests and sample handling and a failure to report test results.
The CDPH declined to comment further, saying that the agency cannot comment on the specifics of an ongoing investigation.
Some 90% of Californians live within 30 minutes of a testing site, the CDPH says.
There are no out-of-pocket costs for Covid-19 testing at a valid testing site operated by the state or your local public health department, and people without insurance can get tested at no cost.
The state provides a website to help Californians find testing sites in local communities.
