With chlamydia reports in Pope County running about 67% lower than the US average, you might want to test before starting a new relationship or as part of ongoing care in Golconda, Illinois. Many clinics may bill insurance or offer sliding-scale fees, while private labs may let you pay a flat self-pay price. See the options below.
Available testing centers
7 testing options are listed for Golconda, IL. The nearest, Chesi, is about 0.3 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.
Chesi, in Golconda, delivers same-visit treatment for bacterial STIs (gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis) alongside rapid and conventional HIV testing, on a sliding-scale fee accepted by Medicaid, Medicare, and most insurers. Appointments are required.
Without a clinic that handles both PrEP and PEP in-house, patients face a second appointment, a second intake, and a gap in coverage that compounds over time. Chesi carries both, so prevention doesn't stall between providers while momentum, and protection, slips.
Chesi tests for hepatitis C in addition to HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia, which means a single visit produces a clearer picture of overall infectious status. Including a virus that often goes undetected without a specific order.
Languages
English
Tests offered
Care services
Prevention services
Fees & payment
Listing verified May 2026 · Source: CDC NPIN
A public STD-testing location about 12 miles from Golconda.
Languages
English
Tests offered
Care services
Prevention services
Fees & payment
Listing verified Aug 2025 · Source: CDC NPIN
Southern 7 Health Department in Elizabethtown tests for gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, and HIV, with same-visit treatment for bacterial infections, and covers everything at no charge regardless of income, accepting Medicaid and Medicare alongside a sliding scale. Appointments are required.
Languages
English
Tests offered
Serves
Care services
Prevention services
Fees & payment
Listing verified Jul 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 Golconda, 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 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.
Local clinicians
Beyond dedicated clinics, 104 primary-care, OB-GYN, infectious-disease and other clinicians have a CMS practice record within 30 miles of Golconda. They may be able to evaluate symptoms or order a confidential STD panel during a regular visit, and 19 offer telehealth.
Marcos Sunga, MD
Internal medicine · 6 Ferrell Road, Rosiclare
Joshua Hastie, MD
Family medicine · 147 North Main Street, Elizabethtown
Sanjay Bose, MD
Internal medicine · 131 Hospital Drive, Salem
Ghassan Yazigi, MD
Internal medicine · 131 Hospital Drive, Salem
Wesley Updike, MD
Family medicine · 28 Chick Street, Metropolis
Thomas Staton, MD
Family medicine · 28 Chick Street, Metropolis
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 Golconda, IL 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.
Bode Drug
0.4 miHardin County Pharmacy
0.5 miGlenn's Prescription Center
15 miClinic Pharmacy of Ky
16 miSmithland Drugs
16 miShowing the 5 closest pharmacies to Golconda, IL.
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 Golconda, 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
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
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 Pope County, the county that includes Golconda, compare with Illinois and U.S. averages, based on the most recent 2023 surveillance data. An estimated ~15% of residents are aged 15–34 (ACS), the age group with the highest reported chlamydia and gonorrhea rates nationally.
#87 of 102 Illinois counties for chlamydia, a higher rate than 15% of the state
| Infection | Pope County | Illinois | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chlamydia | 161.9 6 cases ▼ 71% | 557.7 | 492.2 |
| Gonorrhea | — no data | 202.3 | 179.5 |
| Syphilis (P&S) | — no data | 11.6 | 15.8 |
| Syphilis (early) | — no data | 10.9 | 16 |
| Syphilis (late/unknown) | — no data | 26 | 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 Pope County, chlamydia has risen from 132.9 to 161.9 per 100,000 (22%), and gonorrhea has fallen from 106.3 to 53.1 per 100,000 (50%).
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 Pope County.
Local HIV snapshot
Pope County HIV care continuum (2023)
Pope County recorded 0 new HIV diagnoses per 100,000 (2023), against 14.7 statewide and 13.7 nationally. 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 Pope County tests for syphilis.
Source: CDC NCHHSTP AtlasPlus, 2023 (county-level congenital syphilis is not published).
Local resources & officials
Data & references
Local context
The Golconda Historic District, where Main Street doubles as IL 146 and the pace feels genuinely unhurried, sits at the center of a town where nearly half of residents rent, often at some of the lowest monthly costs in the state, while unemployment runs high enough that cash and schedule flexibility shape almost every practical decision, including health care. With so few households earning above middle income and a labor-force participation rate that reflects how many people here are outside traditional employment altogether, out-of-pocket costs and appointment windows matter far more than they would in a higher-wage community. That reality lands squarely on younger adults: people in their late teens and twenties who are statistically in the years when STI transmission peaks and who are also the most likely to be renting, working irregular hours, or between jobs.
" is genuinely different than in a city with transit or a clinic around the corner. Knowing your status is straightforward when you plan around it: check the hours and sliding-scale fees for the listed options before you head out from Rauchfuss Hill or anywhere else in town, because one phone call can confirm whether a same-day slot is open.
Getting there
At 3.37/20 on the EPA walkability index, day-to-day errands in Golconda 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 62938 snapshot
ZIP-level Census figures for the wider 62938 area around Golconda: a single ZIP can span several communities, so they describe the area, not Golconda alone.
Golconda sits in Pope County, ZIP 62938. Local context that shapes where residents test:
Local landmarks
Major routes
Nearby cities & towns
Just outside Golconda? 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 Pope County: the CDC's screening guidelines, each infection's detection window, per-test reference prices, and your privacy rights under Illinois 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 Golconda-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 Golconda 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 Illinois 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 Illinois, a minor aged 12 or older can consent to confidential STI testing and treatment on their own, no parental permission is required.
Illinois 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 IllinoisSource: 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 Chesi (0.3 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, community and public clinics test the uninsured, with sliding-scale fees.
Local options test for Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, Herpes, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Rapid HIV, a full panel covers the common ones.
About 162 cases per 100,000 residents (2023), below the Illinois average.
Yes, at-home kits ship to 62938; you collect a sample, mail it back, and get results in about 2–5 days.
Lab results typically come back in 1–2 days.
In Illinois, people under 18 can consent to confidential STD testing and treatment on their own.
PrEP (HIV-prevention medicine for HIV-negative people) is available locally, any provider can prescribe it.
Yes, most chlamydia infections cause no symptoms, so screening is the only reliable way to catch it.
Have a different question? Browse the full STD & STI FAQ library, every question we answer, in one place.