Like many business owners, Larry Borden had to shut down his Conshohocken-based company, Aardvark Mobile Tours, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since 2007, the company had been in the experiential advertising industry, converting their patented trucks into mobile event spaces to bring brand awareness, through product sales or giveaways, to big-name companies like T-Mobile, L’Oreal, and Coca-Cola.
When shelter-in-place orders and bans on public gatherings threw a curve into Aardvark’s business model, Borden was left with the choice business owners across sectors have faced: shift gears, or shut down until the end of the pandemic.
Borden decided to pivot.
Aardvark Mobile Tours became Aardvark Mobile Health. And instead of focusing on building brand awareness, they prioritized public health, outfitting new trucks to test people for Covid-19.
On the road
Since launching the new business over the summer, Aardvark has brought mobile health trucks to Texas, Florida, New York and now Philadelphia, where they’ve partnered with vybe urgent care to conduct mobile testing throughout the city.
The trucks, which look like a cross between a U-Haul van and a walk-in clinic, have heat and air conditioning systems, a generator for electricity, and are equipped with labs where nurses can administer a test in one part of the vehicle, and find out results in another.
They come in several models—some have four testing windows and some have two. Nurses can conduct about 35 tests an hour, or about 500 tests a day, which is on par with drive-thru testing facilities.
“[vybe’s] nurses know nothing about setting up trucks and maintaining generators and my people don’t know anything about nursing or doing tests, so it’s a wonderful partnership,” Borden says.
Additionally, they have negative air pressure and partitions that separate the nurses conducting the tests from the people receiving them—features that are critical in curbing the spread of the virus.
The vehicle designs were based on feedback from a pilot run the company did in Florida throughout the month of June.
“We wanted to create the perfect vehicle for Covid testing,” Borden says. “We found out if we could create a vehicle with negative air pressure and separate the nurse from the patient that the nurse … would be totally protected.”
Reaching communities in need
Mobile testing for Covid-19 isn’t a new idea. Borden had heard about shipping containers in Israel being converted into mobile testing units, and in Philly the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium has been hosting pop-up mobile testing events using a rented minivan since April.
But Aardvark’s trucks are unique in that they are designed specifically for Covid-testing: Their partitions help keep both the patients and the nurses receiving the tests safe from the virus, and their quick, 15-minute pack-up time allows them to travel to multiple sites each day, as needed.
Bringing testing directly into communities gives more people access to Covid-19 tests by removing barriers to testing. Black communities in Philly, which are among the hardest hit by the pandemic, are often more likely to rely on public transportation, making drive-thru testing sites inaccessible.
The city has taken some steps to address this by adding testing sites, but Aardvark’s mobile testing units remove the need for a car by bringing testing directly into people’s neighborhoods.
“A truly mobile site also has the advantage of being able to pivot quickly and relocate to an area experiencing an outbreak or specific facility or group.”
Mobile testing also has the advantage of being able to quickly move to areas that are experiencing outbreaks of the virus, and it keeps individuals who might be infectious out of doctor’s offices and waiting rooms, which can further help prevent the spread of the virus.
“Mobile testing sites allow increased convenience and accessibility for people who need to be tested,” says Laurel Glaser, MD, PhD. Glasser is an assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and director of the clinical microbiology lab at Penn Medicine. (She is not affiliated with Aardvark or vybe.)
“A truly mobile site also has the advantage of being able to pivot quickly and relocate to an area experiencing an outbreak or specific facility or group.”
While there are numerous advantages to mobile testing, Glasser notes that it’s important to make sure mobile sites have the infrastructure they need to ensure proper patient and specimen identification, and that they have reporting systems to get results back to patients, healthcare providers and city and state epidemiologists.
This can be especially challenging for testing sites that are partially outside or tented, where other factors, such as weather, can affect a site’s ability to operate.
With Aardvark’s trucks, however, the nurses conducting testing are fully inside, which allows them to continue operating despite the weather. The trucks also have the ability to be used as a lab as well as a testing site; they’re essentially built with a brick-and-mortar-like infrastructure, making it easier to manage logistics, like specimen-testing, identification and reporting.
Scaling a solution
Organizations can access mobile Covid testing trucks from Aardvark in one of two ways. An organization can buy the truck outright, or they can rent a truck, and Aardvark staff will transport it to the location and coordinate the logistics.
In Philly, Aardvark made its debut in October as part of a partnership between vybe urgent care to provide Covid-19 testing and flu shots. vybe urgent care has signed a contract with the City to help cover the costs of the testing operation and to ensure smooth reporting.
vybe opted for the rental model. Aardvark is responsible for maintaining the vehicle, running the generator, keeping the space clean and transporting the vehicle to events, while vybe provides the nurses who conduct the tests, and the testing materials. Currently, the mobile units in Philly use two different types of tests, the PCR tests—the ones that involve a nose swab—and rapid tests.
“[vybe’s] nurses know nothing about setting up trucks and maintaining generators and my people don’t know anything about nursing or doing tests, so it’s a wonderful partnership,” Borden says.
The first Philadelphia testing event took place on October 17 at the Kensington Community Food Co-op and was promoted on vybe’s social media channels and on their website. Events are also listed on the city’s Covid-19 testing page.
Since then, the partnership has administered hundreds of tests. Peter Hotz, president and CEO of vybe, says that people are drawn to the truck’s appearance which in some ways looks more professional than the drive-thru, tented testing sites that are scattered throughout the city.
“Everybody understands what we’re doing is literally affecting people’s lives for the better.”
“The mobile unit has a very professional appearance and people appreciate that we are bringing testing to their neighborhood,” Hotz says. Trucks are embellished with the vybe logo and include walk-up ramps, to accommodate people with disabilities.
They’re currently running more events throughout the Philadelphia area and are adding new events continuously.
People can use vybe’s website to check the calendar of events, request a stop in their neighborhood, school or workplace, and make an appointment to get tested at a mobile location. Most tests are covered by insurance without any out-of-pocket expenses as part of the CARES Act. For those without insurance, HRSA uninsured program may be able to cover the costs of the test.
Long-term plans
Of the partnership with Aardvark, vybe’s Hotz says that it was a perfect match.
“We wanted to find a partner who could not only fabricate a first-class physical environment for us, but who could also handle all of the logistics. They handle all of the details so that our team can show up and treat patients,” he says.
Post-pandemic, when the touring and advertising portion of Aardvark’s business resumes, Borden plans to make Aardvark Mobile Health a permanent branch of the company.
He’s already had interest from institutions, like the University of Maryland, in using the trucks for other health screenings and services, like HIV testing. In Philly, the trucks are also already being used to dispense flu shots, and Borden sees applications in school health screenings as well. The vehicles could also be used to distribute a Covid-19 vaccine once it becomes available.
“It’s very rewarding and it’s what keeps my team going in this pandemic,” Borden says. “Everybody understands what we’re doing is literally affecting people’s lives for the better.”
