Feds Probe COVID Testing Company With Pop-Ups Across IL Suburbs

CHICAGO, IL — Two additional Chicago-based companies that run pop-up coronavirus testing sites are under investigation by federal regulators and state authorities.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Illinois attorney general are leading the probe into Northshore Clinical Labs, which has no ties to NorthShore University Health System, and O'Hare Clinical Labs, which is not associated with O'Hare International Airport, after receiving several complaints, according to media reports.

People who got tested at a Northshore pop-up site reported not getting their results or not getting them in a timely manner. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report found test kits that were not stored properly during on-site inspections, those taking nose swabs did not receive adequate training, and information was not entered accurately into their system, according to the Daily Herald.

At a Northshore off-site testing location at a grocery store in Grayslake, an inspector found tubes with test samples in a shipping box but no labels showing the patient's name or any other information that would identify the patient, according to the article.

Northshore Clinical Labs has closed all of its third-party pop-up sites, according to information posted on the business's website. Northshore is continuing to provide testing services for schools and nursing homes, according to the website.

"Northshore Clinical Labs has terminated all third party operation of COVID-19 testing pop up sites, while we focus on improving processing and PCR result times during this period of extraordinarily high demand," according to a statement posted on the website. The business also cited staff shortages as a reason for delays in returning test results.

O'Hare Clinical Lab, which is based in Chicago and has more than 100 locations across the U.S., received $186 million in federal funds since the beginning of the pandemic so the business could provide testing and treatments, Block Club Chicago is reporting. Many customers who went to an O'Hare site have filed complaints with state regulators after they never got their results or had to wait weeks for results.

The Illinois Attorney General's Office has received 29 complaints about the businesses, and the Better Business Bureau has also received dozens of complaints.