STD Testing in Cortez, CO: Free, Same-Day & Confidential
Syphilis in Montezuma County runs about 53% lower than the US average. Whether you have symptoms or just want peace of mind, you have multiple STI testing options in Cortez, Colorado. To weigh your choices: visiting a clinic lets a provider answer questions and start treatment, while an at-home kit lets you collect a sample on your own schedule and mail it in.
6 testing options are listed for Cortez, CO. The nearest, Axis Health System, is about 0.4 miles away. Compare community and public clinics, private labs, and at-home kits below.
How to read these listings
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.
Premium Partner
Labcorp
Most popular Results in 1–2 days
2.4(77)?
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Google72
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Rated 2.4 out of 5 from 77 reviews
Address
150 Mercury Village Drive, Durango, CO 81301 39.7 miles away
Today's offer: $10 off any test panel, applied automatically at checkout.
Community health center 0.4 miles
Axis Health System
4.4(168)?
Review sources
Google163
EasySTD5
Rated 4.4 out of 5 from 168 reviews
Axis Health System in Cortez delivers testing for gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, herpes, and HIV alongside same-visit treatment for bacterial STIs. No appointment required. Fees run on a sliding scale, and insurance is accepted.
Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains in Cortez runs on a sliding-scale fee structure open to everyone, with Medicaid and private insurance accepted. Walk-in testing covers HIV (rapid and conventional), syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, herpes, and hepatitis A, B, and C, with same-visit treatment for bacterial infections.
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ASL on Staff, Not Scheduled Around You
American Sign Language is available as a direct care language here, not arranged in advance, not routed through a device. Spanish and interpretation services for other languages extend that same directness, so the clinical conversation about dosing, timing, and results carries the same precision regardless of which language it happens in.
Title X Keeps Minor Visits Legally Confidential
Federal Title X designation is the operative mechanism: it legally mandates confidential family planning services for minors, independent of parental consent or insurance disclosure. That status governs how records are handled and who can access them, it is a statutory protection, not a clinic policy that can be waived.
PrEP and PEP Where Prevention Often Gets Deferred
Many sexual health clinics test for HIV without prescribing the medications that prevent it. Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains in Cortez prescribes both PrEP for ongoing prevention and PEP, keeping HIV prevention management within the same clinic rather than splitting it across providers.
Indian Health Service in Towaoc covers its full panel (HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, herpes, hepatitis A, B, and C, and TB) at no fee, with Medicaid, Medicare, and insurance also accepted and a sliding scale behind that. Bacterial STIs are treated the same visit; an appointment is required.
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Every Visit Runs a Zero-Dollar Balance
Sliding-scale clinics still hand patients a bill, scaled down, but present. Indian Health Service in Towaoc charges nothing for its services, full stop, regardless of what insurance a patient carries or doesn't. Medicaid and Medicare are accepted, but the cost floor is the same either way: zero.
Substance-Use Treatment Shares the Same Address as STI Care
STI clinics routinely treat the infection and leave everything tangled up with it unaddressed. Indian Health Service in Towaoc builds substance-use treatment directly into its services, so a patient managing both doesn't need a separate system, a separate intake, or a separate wait.
Herpes and Hepatitis Testing for Anyone Without a Regular Provider
For someone paying out of pocket with no established primary-care relationship, getting herpes or hepatitis A, B, and C testing usually means piecing together multiple appointments at multiple sites. Indian Health Service in Towaoc runs all of those alongside the standard four, no separate lab order, no separate clinic.
Tests & treatsSliding-scale
Address
232 Rustling Willow Street, Complex D Towaoc, CO 81334
Dove Creek Integrated Healthcare, in Dove Creek, earns its federally qualified designation by anchoring STI care to a sliding-scale fee structure tied directly to household income. Walk-in patients can access syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia screening without letting cost stand in the way.
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.
The nearest testing center is less than a mile away, if you'd rather skip the trip, an at-home kit ships to Cortez, 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 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
Quest Diagnostics
$79 & up
Panel:
8-infection panel incl. chlamydia, gonorrhea, HIV, syphilis, hepatitis & herpes: single tests too
Sample:
Quest Mobile: a phlebotomist collects your sample at home
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
Other CLIA-certified labs near Cortez, CO
Beyond the public testing sites above, these federally certified (CLIA) labs serve Montezuma 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.
Southwest Memorial Hospital
1311 North Mildred Road, Cortez, CO 81321
CMS-certified labAccredited · College of American Pathologists
Source: CMS CLIA registry (Provider of Services), Q1 2026. Federal public records: active CLIA-certified laboratories near Cortez. 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
Clinicians near Cortez, CO who may help arrange STD testing
Beyond dedicated clinics, 30 primary-care, OB-GYN, infectious-disease and other clinicians have a CMS practice record within 30 miles of Cortez. They may be able to evaluate symptoms or order a confidential STD panel during a regular visit, and 6 offer telehealth.
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
Pharmacies near Cortez, CO
Compare the pharmacies closest to Cortez, CO. Contact a location directly to confirm pharmacy-counter hours, services, prices, and product availability before visiting.
Directory records identify nearby pharmacies. Service, stock, price, and hours information is shown only when supported by current location-specific evidence.
Prevention & treatment
PrEP, prevention & online treatment
Testing is one step. For residents of Cortez, 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.
Online treatment
Wisp
Visit from $39
Online STI treatment & DoxyPEP: same-day prescriptions to your pharmacy
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
STDs & HIV in Montezuma County: the local picture
How reported STI rates in Montezuma County, the county that includes Cortez, compare with Colorado and U.S. averages, based on the most recent 2023 surveillance data. An estimated ~28% of residents are aged 15–34 (ACS), the age group with the highest reported chlamydia and gonorrhea rates nationally.
#34
#34 of 64 Colorado counties for chlamydia, a higher rate than 47% of the state
Reported STD rates per 100,000, Montezuma County vs Colorado vs U.S.
Montezuma CountyColoradoU.S.▲▼ = Montezuma County vs the state average
Infection
Montezuma County
Colorado
United States
Chlamydia
241.264 cases▼ 45%
435.1
492.2
Gonorrhea
90.524 cases▼ 30%
128.7
179.5
Syphilis (P&S)
7.52 cases▼ 53%
16
15.8
Syphilis (early)
—
10.4
16
Syphilis (late/unknown)
15.14 cases▼ 47%
28.4
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.
Reported STD rates in Montezuma County over time (per 100,000)
Chlamydia ▼ 33% vs 2022
Chlamydia Gonorrhea Syphilis (P&S)
Between 2020 and 2023 in Montezuma County, chlamydia has fallen from 340.4 to 241.2 per 100,000 (29%), gonorrhea has fallen from 143.1 to 90.5 per 100,000 (37%), and P&S syphilis has fallen from 7.7 to 7.5 per 100,000 (3%).
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
What shapes testing access in and around Cortez, CO
Adults uninsured
11.6%
No routine checkup
27.1%
Binge drinking
15%
Frequent mental distress
17.1%
Depression
23.9%
Below poverty line
11.9%
Primary-care ratio
969 : 1
Montezuma County
Primary-care shortage score 19 / 26
Medically Underserved Area · IMU 63.2
Social Vulnerability Index · 61st percentile nationally
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 Montezuma County.
Local HIV snapshot
HIV in Montezuma County (2023)
People living with HIV
97 / 100k
PrEP users / 100k
110
Montezuma County HIV care continuum (2021)
Montezuma County recorded 0 new HIV diagnoses per 100,000 (2021), against 9.6 statewide and 13.7 nationally. Among Montezuma County residents living with HIV, 57.1% are in care · 57.1% 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.
Pregnant or planning to be?Congenital syphilis is the fastest-rising STI: what to test, and when
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 Montezuma County tests for syphilis.
Source: CDC NCHHSTP AtlasPlus, 2023 (county-level congenital syphilis is not published).
Compiled and checked by EasySTD's editorial team against CDC and public-health sources. This is educational information, not a substitute for advice from a licensed clinician. Our editorial guidelines →
West Main Street runs through the commercial core of Cortez the way a lot of small Colorado towns are organized: one road carrying most of the daily traffic, flanked by the businesses and services most residents depend on. The economic texture here is modest and practical. With roughly four in ten households renting at rates that leave little cushion, and fewer than one in seven bringing home six figures, an unexpected cost can genuinely factor into whether someone schedules an appointment. Labor-force participation is below the national average, which means irregular schedules are common, and a testing visit that requires taking time off or arranging a ride can quietly become the thing that gets deferred.
Young adults in their late teens and twenties, a meaningful slice of Cortez's population and the years when STI transmission tends to peak, are disproportionately likely to be in that renting, variable-income situation. Low-cost and sliding-scale options listed here address that directly. Household sizes run larger than many Colorado cities, and nearly half of adults are partnered, so a positive or unknown result rarely affects just one person. Knowing the options available in and around Cortez now makes that conversation, if it ever needs to happen, considerably more straightforward.
Getting there
How residents reach STD testing in Cortez, CO
Walkability6.62 / 20 · Below average
At 6.62/20 on the EPA walkability index, day-to-day errands in Cortez 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.
ZIP 81321 snapshot
Residents
14,278
Median age
42.7
Median income
$59,737
ZIP-level Census figures for the wider 81321 area around Cortez: a single ZIP can span several communities, so they describe the area, not Cortez alone.
Cortez sits in Montezuma County, ZIP 81321. Local context that shapes where residents test:
Local landmarks
Veterans Park
Centennial Park
Parque de Vida
Carpenter Natural Area
Montezuma Park
Future Park
Major routes
US 160 (East Main Street)
North Pinon Drive
US 491 (North Broadway)
South Broadway
Nearby cities & towns
STD testing near Cortez, CO
Just outside Cortez? These nearby communities have their own testing guides: clinics, at-home kits, and free screening close to home.
STD testing in Cortez, CO: screening, costs & privacy
Everything to know before you test in Montezuma County: the CDC's screening guidelines, each infection's detection window, per-test reference prices, and your privacy rights under Colorado law. If you have symptoms right now, our confidential symptom checker maps them to the tests worth considering.
Who should test, and whenCDC screening schedule + each infection's detection window
Who should get tested, and how often
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
When to test: STD detection windows
Testing too early can return a false negative, confirm timing with a Cortez-area provider.
What each STD test costsMedicare reference prices per lab test, a benchmark before you pay out of pocket
These are the federal Medicare reference prices for processing each lab test. Public clinics and the community health centers serving Cortez 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.
Confidentiality & consent in ColoradoMinor consent and partner treatment (EPT) under state law, plus how to test privately
Two things that actually depend on Colorado 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).
Can a minor consent on their own?
In Colorado, a minor of any age can consent to confidential STI testing and treatment on their own, no parental permission is required.
Can my partner be treated too? (EPT)
Colorado 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.
