Entrepreneur Terry Corless announced Wednesday that he's teamed up with Capitol Medical Service to launch a free drive-thru Covid-19 testing site on the city's northwest side.
Corless, who is CEO of Mad Dogs Restaurant Group and owns multiple businesses around the River Walk, said his restaurants and their employees have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic since it first hit in March 2020.
"In our business, we understand how important it is to find a Covid-19 testing location," he said.
Mad Dogs Restaurant Group's restaurants include Mad Dogs British Bar, The Frosty Dog, Bier Garten, On the Bend Oyster Bar and Cigar Lounge, Maddy McMurphy's Irish Sports Bar and Little Rhein Prost Haus, which opened earlier this year.
Corless' Austin-based partner in the initiative, Capitol Medical Service, is licensed as an Advanced Life Support First Responder Organization by the Texas Department of State Health Services. Its focus is offering workforce health solutions and it provides a 40-foot mobile clinic that provides services to employees like drug and alcohol testing, physical exams, emergency health care and vaccinations.
The new Covid testing site is located at 12332 IH-10 West in the Goodwill parking lot. No appointment, insurance or payment is required, and services offered include both rapid and PCR testing.
The testing site will be open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m and 8 a.m., and until 5 p.m. on Sundays.
This announcement comes on the heels of reports of home test shortages in San Antonio and long waits in appointment-only lines at testing centers across the city.
In Bexar County alone, 957 new Covid-19 cases were reported this week by the Texas Department of State Health Services, and 259 patients remain in Bexar County hospitals — 81 in intensive care and 37 on ventilators, according to the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council.
"During this pandemic, we want to be part of the solution,” said Corless.
It's not Corless's first philanthropic endeavor. He previously served as chief operating officer of faith-based online counseling platform CounselorChat, and is on the board of directors of the San Antonio Clubhouse, a community center providing job skill training and connections to community-based educational resources — among other services — to San Antonio-area residents with mental illness.
