In Kanawha County, syphilis cases run about 70% higher than the US average. Whether you need testing after a possible exposure or as part of routine care in Charleston, West Virginia, you'll want to weigh the cost and scheduling trade-offs between community clinics and private labs. Find your options below.
Available testing centers
12 testing options are listed for Charleston, WV. The nearest, FamilyCare Health Center - Lee Street, is about 0.2 miles away. Compare community and public clinics, private labs, and at-home kits below.
Listings tagged Community health center are federally funded health centers and rural clinics that treat everyone regardless of insurance or ability to pay: required to bill on a sliding fee scale and provide confidential care, and in many states minors may consent to their own STI testing. A Title X tag flags centers funded for confidential family-planning services; confirm current participation when you call.
Source: CMS FQHC & Rural Health Clinic enrollment files (data.cms.gov), refreshed quarterly. Title X status reflects the latest OPA grantee list.
FamilyCare Health Center - Lee Street, in Charleston, earned federal qualification as a community health center, which means its STI screening (syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia) is priced on a sliding scale tied to each patient's income, and no appointment is required to be seen.
Tests offered
Fees & payment
West Virginia Health Right, in Charleston, is a full-spectrum community health center where STI care (rapid and conventional HIV, hepatitis A/B/C, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and herpes) is folded into a broader care model, by appointment, at no fee to patients on any income.
Sliding-scale clinics still send some patients home with a bill. West Virginia Health Right charges nothing (not for testing, not for treatment, not for PrEP or PEP) regardless of insurance status. The free-of-charge structure applies across the board, every visit, every service.
Many clinics offer Spanish-speaking staff only at intake, leaving clinical conversations to chance. At West Virginia Health Right in Charleston, Spanish-language support and interpretation services carry through the full appointment: including counseling, treatment decisions, and follow-up planning.
West Virginia Health Right prescribes both PrEP (the daily oral regimen requiring baseline HIV and kidney-function labs, then ongoing monitoring visits) and PEP, the short post-exposure course that demands a precise start and adherence counseling. Both are managed by clinical staff in Charleston, with follow-up built into the same care relationship.
Languages
English, Interpretation Services Available for Non-English Languages, Spanish
Tests offered
Serves
Care services
Prevention services
Fees & payment
Listing verified Nov 2025 · Source: CDC NPIN
Kanawha Charleston Health Department, Charleston's public health clinic, requires an appointment and covers gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, rapid and conventional HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and TB in a single visit: with same-visit treatment for bacterial STIs on a sliding scale, all STI, HIV, hepatitis, and TB testing provided at no fee.
HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia. Every test on the menu is free. That means the decision to test everything, rather than cherry-pick by what feels affordable, stays entirely clinical.
The panel at Kanawha Charleston extends to hepatitis B and hepatitis C, two infections that share transmission routes with the standard bacterial STIs but are routinely absent from stripped-down testing menus. Catching either here, at no cost, keeps follow-up care moving without a separate referral chain.
Languages
English
Tests offered
Serves
Care services
Prevention services
Fees & payment
Listing verified Mar 2026 · Source: CDC NPIN
FamilyCare Health Center - Children's Medicine Center, in Charleston, welcomes walk-ins for STI screening without an appointment. Sliding-scale fees, set by income, apply to syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia testing at this federally qualified health center, making a single visit straightforward for anyone who needs it.
Tests offered
Fees & payment
Valley Health SCP Charleston 108, in Charleston, earned its federally qualified designation by committing to serve patients regardless of insurance status or income. Including those paying out of pocket. Sliding-scale fees apply to STI screening for syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia, and no appointment is required to be seen.
Tests offered
Fees & payment
FamilyCare Health Center - OB/GYN & Birth Center, in Charleston, welcomes walk-in patients for STI screening without an appointment. Federally qualified status ties fees to a sliding income scale, keeping syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia testing within reach for patients across the income spectrum.
Tests offered
Fees & payment
Westside Health Center in Charleston welcomes walk-ins for STI screening, no appointment needed. Federal qualification ties its fees to a sliding income scale, so a single visit can cover syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia testing with costs adjusted to what patients actually earn.
Tests offered
Fees & payment
Women's Health Center of West Virginia in Charleston runs every service (HIV, hepatitis A/B/C, herpes, syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia testing) at no cost, with sliding-scale fees and Medicaid and private insurance accepted for other care. Walk-ins are welcome, and bacterial STIs are treated the same visit.
The no-fee structure at Women's Health Center of West Virginia isn't a discount applied to a subset of visits: it's operationally embedded across the full panel: testing, treatment, counseling, and prevention services are all covered. Staff are resourced to deliver HIV/AIDS medical management, hepatitis C treatment, and PrEP alongside testing without tiering services by what a patient can pay.
Leaving a testing clinic with a positive prevention need and no prescription in hand means another appointment, another provider, and a gap where risk continues. Women's Health Center of West Virginia carries PrEP and PEP within its own clinical scope, so the decision to start either medication happens in the same setting as the conversation about why it's warranted.
A hepatitis C antibody result that requires a second provider for treatment introduces delays that let active infection progress. Women's Health Center of West Virginia staffs hepatitis C treatment directly: meaning a confirmed diagnosis moves into a managed treatment plan within the same clinic, without handoff to a separate gastroenterology or infectious disease practice.
Languages
English
Tests offered
Serves
Care services
Prevention services
Fees & payment
Listing verified Oct 2025 · Source: CDC NPIN
Free tool · not a clinic
Testing too soon can miss an infection. Enter the date of possible exposure to see the earliest a test can reliably detect each STI.
| Infection | Earliest reliable test | Conclusive after |
|---|---|---|
| Chlamydia | 7 days after exposure | 14 days after exposure |
| Gonorrhea | 7 days after exposure | 14 days after exposure |
| Trichomoniasis | 7 days after exposure | 28 days after exposure |
| HIV (NAT / RNA) | 10 days after exposure | 33 days after exposure |
| HIV (4th-gen Ag/Ab) | 18 days after exposure | 45 days after exposure |
| HIV (antibody) | 21 days after exposure | 84 days after exposure |
| Syphilis | 21 days after exposure | 42 days after exposure |
| Hepatitis B | 21 days after exposure | 42 days after exposure |
| Hepatitis C | 56 days after exposure | 77 days after exposure |
| Herpes (HSV) | 28 days after exposure | 112 days after exposure |
Guidance only, confirm timing with a clinician. A negative result before the conclusive date may need a repeat test.
Typical out-of-pocket ranges by option, actual cost depends on which tests you need.
Public / community clinic
Free HIV testing is common
Private lab (self-pay)
Never billed to insurance
At-home kit
Mailed to your door, private
Doctor / urgent care
Often $0 preventive with insurance
No centers match those filters. Clear the service-type filter or the opening-hours filters to see every center.
Every other option
Beyond the dedicated testing centers above: at-home kits by mail, hospital labs certified for STI testing, local clinicians who can order a panel during a regular visit, pharmacies for self-test kits and prescriptions, and online PrEP & treatment.
Test from home
The nearest testing center is less than a mile away; if you'd rather skip the trip, an at-home kit ships to Charleston, you collect the sample privately, and mail it back to a CLIA-certified lab. Results come online in days, with a clinician available if anything is positive. Same labs as a clinic, no waiting room, and you can read how accurate at-home STD tests are before you order.
Want a free option first? The CDC-supported TakeMeHome (opens in a new tab) program mails free at-home HIV self-test kits, and, in many areas, free STI kits, to your door, with no insurance or payment needed. The paid kits below add broader panels and faster turnaround.
In-home collection
$79 & up
Best for simplicity & support
$89 & up
Best value: single tests
$49 & up
Every kit uses CLIA-certified labs. At-home testing is for screening; a reactive result should be confirmed and treated by a clinician. Prices and panels shown are illustrative and change often, confirm current details on the provider's site.
Also in the area
Beyond the public testing sites above, these federally certified (CLIA) labs serve Kanawha County, each lab's town is shown on its card below. Many test through a doctor's order or by appointment rather than walk-in, so call ahead to confirm STD/STI testing and availability before visiting.
333 Laidley Street, Charleston, WV 25301
CMS-certified lab Accredited · College of American Pathologists
501 Morris Street, Charleston, WV 25301
CMS-certified lab Accredited · College of American Pathologists
3200 Maccorkle Avenue Southeast, Charleston, WV 25304
CMS-certified lab Accredited · College of American Pathologists
708 Bigley Avenue, Charleston, WV 25302
CMS-certified lab
1740 Union Carbide Drive, Building 740, South Charleston, WV 25303
CMS-certified lab
Showing the nearest 5 CLIA-certified labs.
Source: CMS CLIA registry (Provider of Services), Q1 2026. Federal public records: active CLIA-certified laboratories near Charleston. A CLIA certificate records only that a laboratory is federally certified — it does not confirm the site performs STD testing, nor its hours, price or access. Inclusion is not an endorsement; always call to verify.
Local clinicians
Beyond dedicated clinics, 327 primary-care, OB-GYN, infectious-disease and other clinicians have a CMS practice record within 30 miles of Charleston. They may be able to evaluate symptoms or order a confidential STD panel during a regular visit, and 97 offer telehealth.
Amal Sakkal
Internal medicine · 3200 Maccorkle Avenue Southeast, Charleston
Dean Watzman, MD Telehealth
Internal medicine · 3200 Maccorkle Avenue Southeast, Charleston
David Garst, DO
Internal medicine · 3100 Maccorkle Avenue Southeast, Charleston
Maryam Taufeeq, MD Telehealth
Internal medicine · 3100 Maccorkle Avenue Southeast, Charleston
Nisar Amin, MD
Internal medicine · 3100 Maccorkle Avenue Southeast, Charleston
Sylvia Diaz, MD
Internal medicine · 3100 Maccorkle Avenue Southeast, Charleston
These are registry-listed clinicians, not dedicated STD-testing clinics. CMS records do not independently verify current licensure, testing services, availability, price, or new-patient status. Confirm each detail before booking. Source: CMS Doctors & Clinicians.
Nearby pharmacies
No pharmacy near Charleston, WV publishes an STD-related service or holds a current CLIA testing certificate, so these are simply the closest. Contact a location directly to confirm counter hours, services, prices, and availability before visiting.
Velox Pharmacy Solutions
0.0 mi
0.3 mi Fruth Pharmacy at Prestera Center
0.4 mi
0.4 mi 
0.5 mi Fruth Pharmacy
0.8 miShowing the 6 closest pharmacies to Charleston, WV.
Directory records identify nearby pharmacies. Service, stock, price, and hours information is shown only when supported by current location-specific evidence.
Prevention & treatment
Testing is one step. For residents of Charleston, telehealth covers the rest: HIV-prevention medication (PrEP) and DoxyPEP to lower future risk, and discreet online treatment if a result comes back positive. All prescribed by licensed U.S. clinicians.
Visit from $39
Online STI treatment & DoxyPEP: same-day prescriptions to your pharmacy
Visit from $0 insured
Telehealth STI treatment and sexual-health care, delivered or to your pharmacy
$0 with most insurance
Free online PrEP & DoxyPEP: HIV prevention, home lab kits, no in-person visit
From $0 insured
Telehealth PrEP & DoxyPEP with at-home testing and ongoing monitoring
Pricing varies by insurance and changes often, confirm on the provider's site. These services are not a substitute for emergency care.
STD stats & rates
How reported STI rates in Kanawha County, the county that includes Charleston, compare with West Virginia and U.S. averages, based on the most recent 2023 surveillance data. An estimated ~26% of residents are aged 15–34 (ACS), the age group with the highest reported chlamydia and gonorrhea rates nationally.
#1 of 55 West Virginia counties for chlamydia, among the very highest in the state
| Infection | Kanawha County | West Virginia | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chlamydia | 414.7 725 cases ▲ 67% | 249 | 492.2 |
| Gonorrhea | 105.8 185 cases ▲ 93% | 54.7 | 179.5 |
| Syphilis (P&S) | 26.9 47 cases ▲ 147% | 10.9 | 15.8 |
| Syphilis (early) | 12 21 cases ▲ 97% | 6.1 | 16 |
| Syphilis (late/unknown) | 48.6 85 cases ▲ 198% | 16.3 | 29.5 |
Rates per 100,000 population, 2023. Source: CDC NCHHSTP AtlasPlus (county, state & U.S., all-ages basis). Population figures: U.S. Census Bureau ACS. These figures are the latest available surveillance estimates. Bars are scaled to the highest rate shown.
Reading these numbers: reported case rates only count infections that were actually tested for and diagnosed, so they track local screening effort as much as true spread: a higher rate can reflect more testing, a lower one less. Either way, most STIs cause no symptoms, so treat the figures above as context rather than a verdict, and test on the CDC's schedule regardless of how your area looks.
Between 2020 and 2023 in Kanawha County, chlamydia has fallen from 441.5 to 414.7 per 100,000 (6%), gonorrhea has fallen from 213 to 105.8 per 100,000 (50%), and P&S syphilis has risen from 11.6 to 26.9 per 100,000 (132%).
The 2020 dip reflects reduced pandemic-era screening, not lower transmission. Source: CDC NCHHSTP AtlasPlus (county, state & U.S., all-ages basis).
Community health context
Sources: CDC PLACES (ZIP), County Health Rankings, CDC/ATSDR SVI, HRSA HPSA, HRSA MUA/P, Neighborhood Atlas ADI. Lower insurance coverage, fewer routine checkups, and a thin primary-care ratio all raise the value of low-cost public clinics and at-home testing in Kanawha County.
Local HIV snapshot
Kanawha County HIV care continuum (2023)
Kanawha County recorded 13.2 new HIV diagnoses per 100,000 (2023), against 6.5 statewide and 13.7 nationally. Among Kanawha County residents living with HIV, 85.5% are in care · 77.9% are virally suppressed. Early, routine testing is what moves these numbers: it is the entry point to PrEP, treatment, and viral suppression.
Sources: AIDSVu (Emory/Gilead) · CDC AHEAD · CDC AtlasPlus · CDC NCHHSTP AtlasPlus (county care continuum). The CDC recommends everyone aged 13–64 test for HIV at least once: every lab and clinic listed above offers HIV testing, and free rapid HIV testing is available at a local health department.
Congenital syphilis, passed from parent to baby in pregnancy, is the fastest-rising STI in the country. U.S. cases climbed from 2,163 in 2020 to 3,882 in 2023. It is almost entirely preventable: the CDC recommends a syphilis test at the first prenatal visit, and every clinic and lab listed for Kanawha County tests for syphilis.
Source: CDC NCHHSTP AtlasPlus, 2023 (county-level congenital syphilis is not published).
Local resources & officials
Data & references
Local context
Leon Sullivan Way cuts through a city where a meaningful share of residents are renters, many of them younger adults settling into relationships and independent living for the first time, figuring out health care on a budget that $735 a month in rent already strains. That cost reality matters for STI screening because it shapes whether a copay or an afternoon off work feels like a reasonable ask. The household picture in Charleston reinforces this. With fewer than four in ten adults married and an average household just under three people, a lot of residents are navigating health decisions without a partner prompting them or an employer-sponsored plan making the logistics easy.
Labor-force participation sits well below national norms, meaning unpredictable or part-time schedules are common, and the modest share of households earning six figures confirms that out-of-pocket costs land differently here than they might in a wealthier city. For people in their late teens and twenties, who account for a substantial portion of the population and nearly all locally reported chlamydia and gonorrhea cases in Kanawha County, those layers add up fast. Several serve Elk City Historic District and the East End, and for residents along US 60 toward South Hills, driving to the nearest site is a realistic errand rather than a half-day ordeal, which for this city is the practical detail that actually changes who gets screened.
Getting there
At 7.1/20 on the EPA walkability index, day-to-day errands in Charleston generally mean driving: plan on a car or rideshare to reach a clinic, and check each listing's hours and phone before you go.
Source: EPA National Walkability Index 2021.
Charleston sits in Kanawha County. Local context that shapes where residents test:
Local landmarks
Neighborhoods & communities
Major routes
Nearby cities & towns
Just outside Charleston? These nearby communities have their own testing guides: clinics, at-home kits, and free screening close to home.
Reference
Everything to know before you test in Kanawha County: the CDC's screening guidelines, each infection's detection window, per-test reference prices, and your privacy rights under West Virginia law. If you have symptoms right now, our confidential symptom checker maps them to the tests worth considering.
Based on current CDC screening recommendations.
| Group | Tests | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Everyone aged 13–64 | HIV | At least once |
| Sexually active women under 25 | Chlamydia, gonorrhea | Every year |
| Women 25+ with new or multiple partners | Chlamydia, gonorrhea | Every year |
| Pregnant people | HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B & C, chlamydia | Early in pregnancy |
| Gay & bisexual men (MSM) | Chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, HIV | Every 3–6 months |
| Anyone who shares injection equipment | HIV, hepatitis B & C | At least yearly |
| All adults at least once | Hepatitis C | At least once |
Testing too early can return a false negative, confirm timing with a Charleston-area provider.
| Infection | Earliest reliable test | Sample |
|---|---|---|
| Chlamydia | 1–2 weeks | Urine or swab |
| Gonorrhea | 1–2 weeks | Urine or swab |
| Trichomoniasis | 1–4 weeks | Urine or swab |
| HIV (NAT / RNA) | 10–33 days | Blood |
| HIV (4th-gen Ag/Ab) | 18–45 days | Blood |
| HIV (antibody) | 3–12 weeks | Blood / oral |
| Syphilis | 3–6 weeks | Blood |
| Hepatitis B | 3–6 weeks | Blood |
| Hepatitis C | 8–11 weeks | Blood |
| Herpes (HSV) | 4–16 weeks (antibody); swab a sore | Blood / swab |
These are the federal Medicare reference prices for processing each lab test. Public clinics and the community health centers serving Charleston often test free or on a sliding scale; private labs and at-home kits bundle several tests into one fee. Use this as a per-test benchmark before you pay out of pocket, or see the full guide to STD test costs for insurance, free, and at-home options.
| Test | Reference price | CPT / HCPCS |
|---|---|---|
| Chlamydia (NAAT) | $47.80 | 87491 |
| Gonorrhea (NAAT) | $47.80 | 87591 |
| Trichomoniasis (NAAT) | $47.76 | 87661 |
| HIV-1/2 antigen/antibody | $26.87 | 87389 |
| HIV-1/2 antibody | $22.44 | 86703 |
| Syphilis (RPR/VDRL) | $5.61 | 86592 |
| Syphilis (treponemal antibody) | $17.49 | 86780 |
| Herpes (HSV NAAT) | $47.76 | 87529 |
| Hepatitis B surface antigen | $15.33 | 87340 |
| Hepatitis C antibody | $29.16 | 86803 |
Source: Medicare Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule, CMS, 2025 rates (data.cms.gov). Reference rate for the lab assay only: a clinic visit, sample collection, or a bundled multi-test panel may cost more. Medicaid and most insurers cover STD screening at no out-of-pocket cost.
Two things that actually depend on West Virginia law: who can consent, and whether partners can be treated without their own visit. Everything else about testing privately is the same nationwide (see below).
In West Virginia, a minor of any age can consent to confidential STI testing and treatment on their own, no parental permission is required.
West Virginia permits Expedited Partner Therapy (EPT): if you test positive for chlamydia or gonorrhea, your provider can give you medication (or a prescription) to pass to your partner, no separate exam or appointment needed for them.
Keeping a test private works the same in every state. Whether an STD test shows on insurance (the EOB), how to test anonymously, and self-pay options that leave no insurance trail don’t change by location.
Learn more about confidential STD testing in West VirginiaSource: Guttmacher Institute, Minors' Access to STI Services; CDC, Legal Status of Expedited Partner Therapy. General information, not legal advice.
Good to Know
Answers to the questions people ask most before getting tested.
There are 12 options within a 30-mile drive.
Usually yes, it can be billed to insurance, or paid out of pocket at a flat rate.
Yes, free HIV testing is available at public clinics in the area.
A full panel typically covers chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, HIV, and hepatitis B and C.
Kanawha County reported ~415 chlamydia cases per 100,000 in 2023, above the West Virginia average.
At-home kits mail to 25314: self-collect, send to the lab, results in ~2–5 days.
In West Virginia, people under 18 can consent to confidential STD testing and treatment on their own.
Yes, PrEP, a daily pill that helps prevent HIV in HIV-negative people, is available in the area.
Most results are ready in about 1–2 days.
Usually urine or a swab for chlamydia/gonorrhea, and blood for HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis.
Have a different question? Browse the full STD & STI FAQ library, every question we answer, in one place.