Integrating US National Guard with Public Health Partners at COVID-19 Testing Sites in West Virginia Counties with High Rural and Minority Populations: Lessons Learned.

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes the decisionmaking, communication, and outcomes of collaboration between the West Virginia National Guard (WVNG) and state and county organizations in hosting state-prioritized COVID-19 testing site events from May 22 to December 30, 2020. The United States Census Bureau designated 34 of the 55 counties in West Virginia as rural. For this study, we classified 23 counties as rural-identified counties, 14 counties as minority-identified counties and 14 counties as both rural and minority-identified counties. This resulted in a total 51 of the 55 counties receiving a rural, minority, or both rural and minority-identified county designation. Through collaboration between the WVNG and public health partners, 98,846 COVID-19 tests were conducted between May 22 and December 30, 2020, making up 7% of the total of 1,414,373 COVID-19 tests conducted in the entire state of West Virginia during that time frame. A total of 349 (68.2%) of the 512 WVNG-supported testing sites occurred in either rural or minority-identified counties 185 (36.1%) in rural counties, 134 (26.2%) in minority-identified counties, and 30 (5.9%) in counties designated as both rural and minority-identified. The novel use of the WVNG to support county health departments in rural and minority-identified counties allowed more COVID-19 testing site events to occur. This demonstrates the use of the National Guard as a force multiplier, helping to reach the state's most vulnerable and underserved populations.