CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) – OSF HealthCare and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are expanding their SHIELD CU COVID-19 testing program. 

Starting July 14, select SHIELD CU COVID-19 testing sites will be expanding to Parkland College in Champaign, offering their services to the community and Parkland students, faculty, and staff.

Interested community members can be tested for COVID-19 through the SHIELD CU program at no cost. Insurance will not be billed.

SHIELD CU will be available at Parkland College in the M-4 parking lot tent, 2400 W Bradley Ave. in Champaign on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Testing is also available at the State Farm Center, 1800 S. 1st St., in Champaign on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Sundays from 10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

SHIELD CU uses its non-invasive saliva-based test invented at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The program also utilizes the Safer Community app, which helps walk participants through finding testing centers, learning the latest news about COVID-19 and its management, and receiving their test results confidentially.

Parkland College is the latest organization to participate in the SHIELD CU program. The original participants included:

  • Students, teachers, and staff at Urbana High School
  • Stratton Academy of the Arts, a public school in the Champaign Unit 4 School District
  • Employees of Champaign County

Also included in the initial launch were family and household members of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty, staff, and students.

Visit osfhealthcare.org/shield for more about the local expansion of the SHIELD ecosystem.