Boca Raton, Florida – As long as COVID-19 uncertainty persists, privately funded testing centers are required to increase the number of tests administered. In Boca Raton, FL, a new COVID-19 drive-thru testing center has been established at the 951 NW 13th Street parking lot. On April 13, local physicians and volunteers began administering the tests.
Josh Schuster, Managing Principal of Silverback Development (a real estate owner, developer, and investor based in New York City), purchased 1,000 COVID-19 test kits and provided funding for the testing center. LabCorp purchased the CDC-approved tests that are currently used at Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
Silverback Development is working with the Bicol Clinic Foundation, the Bicol Regional Hospital, and the FAU Internal Medicine Residency Program.
The Bicol Clinic Foundation was founded by Silverback Development’s Managing Principal, Josh Schuster, and his father, Mitchell Schuster, MD. Since its inception in 2005, the organization has served over 58,000 patients through four non-profit medical clinics established by the family in Haiti, the Philippines, and Nepal. The main goals of the organization are to send medical professionals to places around the world to help people who have been affected by natural disasters (like when Bicol sent a team to the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian) and to set up permanent clinics for poor people who would not be able to get medical care otherwise.
The testing is done with a nasal swab, and participants should receive their results within 48–72 hours. For those who do not have health insurance, all costs will be covered.
“Silverback has always had a philanthropic interest when it comes to providing low or no-cost medical care to communities in need,” Josh Schuster said of Bicol’s most recent initiative. We see ourselves as members of the communities in which we do business, and we believe it is our responsibility to contribute to local communities and the larger health care system in any way that we can. “
