Hempstead County reports about 32 new HIV diagnoses per 100,000 residents, well above the US average. If you're in Fulton, Arkansas and need an STI test, whether it's your first or a routine screening, you can weigh options like public clinics for lower costs, private labs for quicker results, and at-home kits for convenience. See your options listed below.
Available testing centers
6 testing options are listed for Fulton, AR. The nearest, Arkansas Department of Health, is about 12.8 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.
Arkansas Department of Health in Hope tests for gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, and HIV, both rapid and conventional, on a sliding-scale fee that applies to anyone, with Medicaid and private insurance also accepted. Gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis are treated on-site; an appointment is required.
Staff at the Hope clinic provide services in Spanish, which means questions about STI treatment, TB management, or family planning get answered directly: no relay, no delay between what you ask and what you understand about your own care.
Languages
English, Spanish
Tests offered
Serves
Care services
Prevention services
Fees & payment
Listing verified Apr 2026 · Source: CDC NPIN
A safety-net rural health clinic about 13 miles from Fulton. Sliding-scale STD testing and care are typical here, call ahead to confirm the exact panel and pricing.
Tests offered
Cabun Rural Health Services in Hope operates on sliding scale fees with Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance accepted, covering a panel that extends beyond the standard four to include herpes, hepatitis A, B, and C, and TB: by appointment, with same-visit treatment for bacterial STIs and Spanish-language care.
Without Spanish-language care at the point of testing, the gap between a result and a treatment plan widens: follow-up questions go unasked, instructions get approximated, and infections persist longer than they should. At Cabun Rural Health Services, Spanish is a working clinical language, not a workaround, so care moves forward without that gap.
A hepatitis C diagnosis that ends at confirmation (with treatment scheduled somewhere else, weeks later) leaves patients navigating a system that can easily stall. Cabun Rural Health Services manages hepatitis C treatment on-site, so the path from a reactive test to an active treatment plan doesn't require a separate provider or a separate appointment.
Leaving herpes or hepatitis off a screen means those infections can go undetected and unaddressed until symptoms force the issue, or until someone else is exposed. Cabun Rural Health Services tests for herpes, hepatitis A, B, and C alongside gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, and HIV, so the full picture is available from a single visit.
Languages
English, Spanish
Tests offered
Serves
Care services
Prevention services
Fees & payment
Listing verified May 2026 · Source: CDC NPIN + HRSA
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 about 13 miles away; if you'd rather skip the trip, an at-home kit ships to Fulton, 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 range: couples & full panels
$79 & up
Best for simplicity & support
$89 & 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 Hempstead 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.
100 East 20th Street, Suite D, Hope, AR 71801
CMS-certified lab
Showing the nearest 1 CLIA-certified labs.
Source: CMS CLIA registry (Provider of Services), Q1 2026. Federal public records: active CLIA-certified laboratories near Fulton. 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, 124 primary-care, OB-GYN, infectious-disease and other clinicians have a CMS practice record within 30 miles of Fulton. They may be able to evaluate symptoms or order a confidential STD panel during a regular visit, and 12 offer telehealth.
Dale Goins, MD
Family medicine · 405 West 16th Street, Hope
William Bennett, MD
Family medicine · 805 Trinity Drive, Hope
Kevin O'Sullivan, MD
Family medicine · 1307 Trinity Boulevard, Texarkana
Kyle Diaz, MD
Family medicine · 3417 U Of A Way, Texarkana
Mary Anderson, MD
Family medicine · 401 East Street, Texarkana
James Scales, MD
OB-GYN · 4077 Jefferson Avenue, Texarkana
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 Fulton, AR 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.
13 mi 
13 mi Super 1 Pharmacy
13 miFreds Pharmacy 1896
13 miFamily Pharmacy
13 miExpress RX of Hope
13 miShowing the 6 closest pharmacies to Fulton, AR.
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 Fulton, 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.
$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
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
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 Hempstead County, the county that includes Fulton, compare with Arkansas and U.S. averages, based on the most recent 2023 surveillance data. An estimated ~7% of residents are aged 15–34 (ACS), the age group with the highest reported chlamydia and gonorrhea rates nationally.
#12 of 75 Arkansas counties for chlamydia, a higher rate than 84% of the state
| Infection | Hempstead County | Arkansas | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chlamydia | 884 171 cases ▲ 53% | 579.6 | 492.2 |
| Gonorrhea | 274 53 cases ▲ 42% | 193.4 | 179.5 |
| Syphilis (P&S) | 20.7 4 cases ▼ 29% | 29.2 | 15.8 |
| Syphilis (early) | 20.7 4 cases ▲ 20% | 17.3 | 16 |
| Syphilis (late/unknown) | 25.8 5 cases ▼ 46% | 48 | 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 Hempstead County, chlamydia has risen from 662.8 to 884 per 100,000 (33%), gonorrhea has fallen from 528.3 to 274 per 100,000 (48%), and P&S syphilis has fallen from 49.8 to 20.7 per 100,000 (58%).
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 Hempstead County.
Local HIV snapshot
Federal priority area: Arkansas is one of the U.S. jurisdictions prioritized under the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative: targeted federal funding to expand local HIV testing, PrEP, and prevention.
Hempstead County HIV care continuum (2023)
Hempstead County recorded 31.5 new HIV diagnoses per 100,000 (2023), against 11.8 statewide and 13.7 nationally. Among Hempstead County residents living with HIV, 28.6% are in care · 14.3% 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 Hempstead County tests for syphilis.
Source: CDC NCHHSTP AtlasPlus, 2023 (county-level congenital syphilis is not published).
Local resources & officials
Data & references
Local context
US Highway 67 cuts through Fulton the way most errands do here, by car, with real distance involved before you reach any of the options listed on this page. That drive is the central fact of getting screened in a community this rural, and it lands differently depending on where you sit in the local economy. With nearly all households owning their homes and high-earner households representing a narrow slice of the population, out-of-pocket testing costs can give genuine pause, making the fee structures and sliding-scale options visible in the clinic cards above worth a close look before you go. The labor-force picture adds another layer.
When a relatively small share of adults participates in the formal workforce, schedules don't always follow the nine-to-five logic that clinic hours assume, but they're also not always predictable in the other direction. Young adults in their late teens and twenties, for whom routine screening carries the most practical weight, still depend on someone with a car, a free afternoon, and the information to know which site along the I-30 corridor or down toward US 67 is worth the trip. Fulton's households tend to be small and, statistically, less likely to be married-couple units than the national picture. That kind of solo or loosely coupled life stage is exactly when having a current test result in hand is simply useful information to carry forward.
Getting there
At 4.17/20 on the EPA walkability index, day-to-day errands in Fulton 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 71838 snapshot
ZIP-level Census figures for the wider 71838 area around Fulton: a single ZIP can span several communities, so they describe the area, not Fulton alone.
Fulton sits in Hempstead County, ZIP 71838. Local context that shapes where residents test:
Major routes
Nearby cities & towns
Just outside Fulton? 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 Hempstead County: the CDC's screening guidelines, each infection's detection window, per-test reference prices, and your privacy rights under Arkansas 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 Fulton-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 Fulton 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 Arkansas 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 Arkansas, a minor of any age can consent to confidential STI testing and treatment on their own, no parental permission is required.
Arkansas 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 ArkansasSource: 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.
The closest is Arkansas Department of Health (12.8 mi); 6 options are within 30 miles.
Most plans cover STD screening; a clinic or lab can bill insurance, or you can pay a flat self-pay price.
Yes, public clinics in the area offer free or low-cost testing.
Local options test for Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, Herpes, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Rapid HIV, a full panel covers the common ones.
About 884 cases per 100,000 residents (2023), above the Arkansas average.
In Arkansas, people under 18 can consent to confidential STD testing and treatment on their own.
HPV and hepatitis B vaccines prevent those infections, ask a provider if you're due.
They can, swollen groin nodes can accompany herpes, syphilis, or early HIV, so mention them when you test.
A retest around 3 months after treatment is recommended for chlamydia and gonorrhea.
The sore can disappear on its own even though the infection remains; only testing confirms it's gone.
Have a different question? Browse the full STD & STI FAQ library, every question we answer, in one place.