Preferred Location: Change location
Preferred Location: Change location
In East Kern, CA, health facilities report many cases of HIV and other STDs, including syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and HIV.
Chlamydia ranks as the most prevalent STD in East Kern, CA with 6,859 reported cases in 2017; an equivalent of about 18 cases every day. In a statewide scope, chlamydia has the second highest rate in California.
The Kern County Public Health Services reported that HIV has the lowest rate, with only 157 reported cases. The number is higher than what has been recorded in recent years but the rate remains 40% lower than in the epidemic years.
The Kern County Health also reported that cases of gonorrhea were 26% higher than the state of California, with the highest rates among youth of ages 20-24 years.
The County Public Health Dept. has taken several steps to minimize STD cases in East Kern. If you think you’ve been exposed to HIV or other STDs, you can visit a health clinic which may offer free STD testing and the Ora Quick HIV Test that takes only 20 minutes. However, you’ll have to deal with long queues.
You can visit a community-based clinic near you, as provided by the Kern County Health Dept. These clinics are opened on a weekly basis and may offer limited walk-in option. Most health workers see doctors on appointment.
Medical research centers across East Kern, CA may also provide HIV/ AIDS and STD testing. However, it takes about three days for clients to receive their test results.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1 (CDC) recommends screening for the most common STDs, including chlamydia, gonorrhea, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, syphilis, herpes 1, herpes 2, and HIV for both men and women. In addition, the CDC suggests women get screened for trichomoniasis.
SaferSTD recommends searching for locations that offer a 10-test panel which tests for the most common bacteria and viral STDs in the U.S. with additional premium add-ons like early HIV detection, if needed.
The CDC2Â provides detailed STD testing information as to when you should get tested. In summary, you should get tested today if you are sexually active, never been tested before, have had unprotected sex in the past, or if you exhibit symptoms.Â
According to the World Health Organization3, the majority of STI cases reported every day, more than one million, are asymptomatic; another reason to get tested today.
You should get tested again in 90 days to rule out STDs that have specific exposure waiting times, including HIV.
STD testing can be a quick and simple process, depending on the type of test you choose and where you get tested. Some may require an oral or genital swab, a urine test or blood sample, or a physical exam to check your genital area for signs of an STD.
SaferSTD has identified preferred providers that require only a urine test, a blood sample, or both without a physical exam.
The speed at which you receive your STD testing results depends on where you get tested. Before you choose your location, find out how long testing results will take.Â
At-home STD testing results are usually 3-5 business days, depending on the manufacturer of your test. You also need to take into account the amount of time it takes to receive the test or pick one up, perform the test, and ship it back, before the lab can analyze your results and report back to you.Â
If you test at a public facility such as a neighborhood clinic, you may have to wait a week, if not more for the results, which could delay treatment. If you test through a private facility, they have the fastest turnaround within 1-3 business days.Â
SaferSTD has researched and identified the most accredited and most reputable testing locations. Click here to find a preferred location near you.
Some STD testing clinics offer same-day walk-in options without an appointment. Below are nearby preferred locations that offer this option.
The cost of STD testing depends on whether you select private, public, or at-home testing, as well as the type of test(s) you need.
Several at-home STD options and public testing locations can cost up to $250, with most on the higher end, depending on the brand and type of testing. Public testing fees also vary based on income and welfare eligibility.Â
With private testing, you may save money on a low-cost comprehensive 10-test panel that tests for the most common bacterial and viral STDs in the United States.Â
SaferSTD has researched and identified reputable locations that offer upfront pricing without hidden fees. Click here to find a preferred location near you.
Order a home-test kit onlineThe test takes just 5 minutes and then mail in your sampleReceive your lab results in 2 to 5 daysFDA approved technologyEnjoy free shipping
Clinica Sierra Vista - 34th Street Community Health Center is a comprehensive health-care organization serving the East Kern Community with primary medical and behavioral health needs since 1971. The facility clinicians deliver services to address health problems including STD/HIV testing and treatment, homelessness, substance use, teen pregnancy, and mental problems.
Omni Family Health provides quality primary and preventive health-care to East Kern residents including comprehensive STD testing and treatment, dental, and behavioral health services. The facility has a team of committed physicians and registered nurses promoting regular and continuous care regardless of the patient’s ability to pay.
Planned Parenthood - Bakersfield Health Center aims at ensuring that every individual has the knowledge, opportunity, and freedom to access quality and affordable medical services. Health services provided by the facility include birth control, emergency contraception, STD/HIV testing, and treatment as well as breast and cervical cancer screening.
Kern County Public Health Department promotes health and disease prevention through media relations, marketing, and community health education. The department ensures STD testing and treatment services are offered to the residents regardless of their ability to pay. It also provides programs including immunizations, physical activities, and healthy eating habits as well as communicable disease prevention and a variety of pre and postnatal programs.
Urgent Care Clinic - A Service of Ridgecrest Regional Hospital Rural Health is the primary source for wellness and treatment for the entire East Kern community. It is also a reliable health organization with a network of clinical relationships and qualified health-care providers. The clinic provides services such as STD testing, emergency, and dental care as well as pediatrics and cancer services.
Priority Urgent Care is an immediate care facility that has a team of medical practitioners and health-care providers are experienced in treating STDs among other conditions in adults and children. The clinic is caters for non-life threatening issues alongside STD services, and the physicians are caring and friendly.
These location types are best for: Privacy and convenience
Accredited and Certified
Description: Order online and receive a doctor's order to visit this lab to get tested in as little as 15 mins. Get your results privately within 1-2 business days and speak with a doctor over the phone if your test results come back positive. Doctors may prescribe treatment or refer you to a specialist if needed.
These location types are best for: Privacy and convenience
Accredited and Certified
Description: Getting an STD test at a clinic near you has never been easier. When you choose this location, you can get a doctor's requisition to get tested in as little as 15 minutes. Following your test, you receive your results privately within 2 business days, and can speak to a doctor over the phone with confidence, should results come back as positive.
These location types are best for: Privacy and convenience
Accredited and Certified
Description: Why go to a public clinic? Get convenient and fast STD testing that is 100% confidential. Individual tests under $50. Order online and visit this lab the same day for a quick 15 min test. Get your results online within 1-2 business days, and view them privately. Doctor consultation available over the phone, should results come back as positive.
These location types are best for: Privacy and convenience
Accredited and Certified
Description: Get Fast, Easy and Affordable testing at this location. Results come back within 2 business days and be in and out of the lab in less then 20 minutes.
Show only locations where privacy and discretion is taken into importance.
Show only locations where privacy and discretion is taken into importance.
Description: Community Based Organization. closed daily at 12noon-1pm
Description: Need to enroll as a patient.
Description: Closed for lunch Mon-Fri 11:30am-1pm
Show only locations where you can easily book your test online.
Show only locations where you can easily book your test online.
Description: Community Based Organization. Tarzana Treatment Centers provides integrated health care services for HIV positive individuals. Services include primary care, mental health and substance abuse treatment, housing, transportation, and more.
Description: Need to enroll as a patient.
Description: AIDS Service Organization.
Show only locations where they offer the HIV RNA Early Detection Test for people who think they may have been recently exposed to the HIV virus.
Show only locations where they offer the HIV RNA Early Detection Test for people who think they may have been recently exposed to the HIV virus.
Description: Community Based Organization.
Description: Community Based Organization. closed daily at 12noon-1pm
Description: Closed for lunch Mon-Fri 11:30am-1pm
Description: Social Service Organization. If you are uninsured, you may qualify for a state-funded program or a lower fee scale. Please bring the following documents: photo ID. Fees for services are based on your household income. You will not be turned away because of your inability to pay. Services under some insurance plans and physician groups require prior authorization. You are welcome to walk in any time the Health Center is open to make an appointment or see if there is a same day appointment available. Walk-in hours Mon.-Fri., 8am-3:30pm and Sat., 8am-3pm
Description: Community Based Organization. Tarzana Treatment Centers provides integrated health care services for HIV positive individuals. Services include primary care, mental health and substance abuse treatment, housing, transportation, and more.
Description: When visiting the health center for the first time: bring proper Identification, which may include social security card, valid driver's license, birth certificate or another form of official identification. Bring your Medi-Cal card, Medicare card or private insurance card. Not open 3rd Tuesday of each month. Closed for lunch from 12:30pm-1:30pm
With the release of statistics compiled by the CDC and Kern County Health Department it has become impossible for residents to ignore the rising STD rates.
From 2012 to 2014 the congenital Syphilis rate alone climbed a frightening 340 percent. The statistics also show that this is not the only sexually transmitted disease on the rise. Chlamydia, Gonorrhea and HIV incidents are increasing, and have been for the past twenty years.
Health officials have noted that not only are the number of STDs reported annually increasing, but sometimes at an astonishing rate. While they are not calling it a crisis, it is being referred to as a “very difficult issue”.
Part of this is due to the fact that the infection rates for many of the commonly transmitted sexual disease are increasing across all demographics.
Teens and young adults account for the majority of Chlamydia and Gonorrhea cases. Women are at a greater risk for contracting Chlamydia, while an overwhelming number of Gonorrhea incidents are occurring in men. Guys over the age of 25 are also testing positive more often for primary and secondary Syphilis. Unfortunately this demographic is also experiencing an increase in the number of new HIV cases reported each year.
Some of the other statistics that highlight the growing STD problem in the county include,
STD testing and treatment services are offered to everyone irrespective of their age, income, and gender. Also, the facility accepts multiple forms of payments including cash, checks, insurances, and debit cards.
Clinica Sierra Vista has a friendly teen clinic for adolescents to receive free reproductive health services without their parent's knowledge. Some of the services offered at the teen clinic include pregnancy and STD testing, contraceptive methods, and consultations with a health-care professional.
2000 Physicians Blvd, Bakersfield, CA 93301, USA
Medicaid and Medicare are among the accepted insurance covers, and self-pay patients may pay at a sliding fee scale. New patients are required to fill a patient's form and arrive fifteen minutes before their scheduled appointment. STD testing services are provided to everyone without discrimination.
The medical staff are bilingual and offer their services in various languages, and a professional interpreter is available for non-English speakers. The facility also provides obstetrics and gynecology care services for women, including prenatal care, STD testing services, and delivery planning.
4900 California Ave #100B, Bakersfield, CA 93309, USA
STD testing services are available to everyone despite their age, gender, religion, or race. Cash, checks, debit cards, and insurances are the accepted mode of payment by the clinic, and first-time patients are required to fill out the new patient's form.
Transgender Hormone Services, as well as STD testing services, are available for the LGBTQ community aged 18 years and above. All services provided in the facility are confidential, and the clinicians ensure that patients receive quality medical care.
2633 16th St, Bakersfield, CA 93301, USA
No individual is denied STD testing services irrespective of their age, gender, or race. The facility accepts both insured and uninsured patients, and the latter get to pay at a sliding fee scale.
The health department has an AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) providing medication assistance for the treatment of HIV and AIDS to individuals without insurance or third party benefits for ADAP medication. Additionally, the PrEP Assistance Program provides financial assistance for low-income individuals at risk of contracting HIV infections.
1800 Mt Vernon Ave, Bakersfield, CA 93305, USA
STD testing and treatment services are open to every individual at a low cost, and the facility is not biased when delivering STD testing services. Patients can either pay by checks, insurance covers, or cash.
The hospital provides obstetrics and gynecology services for women including pregnancy care and childbirth, STD testing and treatment, and menopause assistance as well as breast and ovarian cancer screening and treatment. It is also staffed with professional health-care providers to provide effective services.
1111 N China Lake Blvd, Ridgecrest, CA 93555, USA
The hospital accepts major insurance covers and cash payments at a sliding fee scale. STD testing services are provided to residents of all ages and income levels, and new patients are required to arrive at least fifteen minutes before their scheduled appointment.
The clinic provides medical care services seven days a week, and you can visit at your convenience. Emergency care services are also available to patients with non-life-threatening conditions that require immediate treatment and are provided by competent experts.
3409 Calloway Dr UNIT 101, Bakersfield, CA 93312, USA
In response to the rapidly rising STD and teen pregnancy rates the state has made it mandatory that all public schools provide comprehensive sex education. The material used must also be medically accurate and free from religious bias.
This means that abstinence based materials will no longer be permitted, and this does have some people upset.
There are several groups that still believe that encouraging abstinence is the best way to prevent STDs and unplanned pregnancies, even though the statistics show this to be ineffective. School districts that promoted abstinence actually had some of the highest rates in the state.
At the start of the 2016 school year some districts were already in compliance with the new mandated curriculum, but this does not include the county and small township. Due to lack of funding and available material, most high school students aren’t receiving the information they need to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases.
Information on where to buy condoms is not discussed, and a large number of graduating seniors aren’t even sure how to properly use one. The importance of being checked for all of the STDs is also not covered, and this is putting everyone’s sexual health at risk.
If all high school students and their parents understood how important regular Herpes testing in East Kern is, the infection rate would begin to decrease. The good news is that the importance of regular HIV testing in East Kern is covered in the current sex education program. Unfortunately, judging by the high incident rate very few residents are taking this advice seriously.
STD rates are rising across the county and there are several factors contributing to this growing health problem.
Its small population has limited the number of community STI clinics and this means that residents often don’t have a convenient place to go if there is a problem with their sexual health.
Recent budget cuts to health care programs across the state are also contributing to the lack of community testing centers. Due to lack of funding some health clinics have been forced to close, while others can only afford limited hours of operation. Not only does this make it difficult for residents to find a place to get tested, the long lines are causing many people to turn away in frustration. Adding to the problem is the fact that STD testing is no longer covered under Medicaid, and a large percentage of residents are realizing that they simply can’t afford to take care of their sexual health.
The main contributing factor is the lack of comprehensive sex education. With a large number of graduating students admitting to engaging in sexual activity at least once, it is obvious that abstinence based material is no longer effective. As long as teens do not have access to the information they need to protect themselves, the STD rates will keep increasing.
The scenic beauty of the county and small township makes it easy to forget that the area is currently seeing a stunning increase in its STD rates. With the incident rate rising across all demographics, it is important that everyone take a few minutes to get tested. It is understandable if you don’t wait to spend all day waiting in a long line, and now you can avoid the community testing centers. Now you can easily schedule confidential STD testing with one simple phone call and only spend 15 to 20 minutes at a local lab. This way you still have plenty of time to explore this fascinating area.
Each page below contains a detailed report of the local area, location STD statistics and clinic reviews of some the top STD testing locations. The content is curated by our very own editors and medical experts.
