In McCormick County, reported gonorrhea runs about 22% lower than the US average. Whether you're getting tested before starting a new relationship in Plum Branch, South Carolina, or as part of ongoing care, you'll find that community and public clinics are often low-cost or free. Competitors have faster results and more flexible scheduling. The directory below lists both options.
Available testing centers
7 testing options are listed for Plum Branch, SC. The nearest, Carolina Health Centers, is about 3.9 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.
Carolina Health Centers in McCormick tests for gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, rapid and conventional HIV, and hepatitis C, treating bacterial STIs at the same visit. Every service runs on a sliding scale, and HIV and hepatitis C testing carry no fee at all.
Carolina Health Centers provides all of its services at no charge, which means the cost of testing, counseling, and same-visit bacterial treatment never becomes the reason someone leaves without care.
Beyond gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, and HIV, Carolina Health Centers runs a rapid hepatitis C test: meaning a hepatitis C result is available the same day, without a separate lab order or follow-up appointment to get an answer.
Languages
English
Tests offered
Serves
Care services
Prevention services
Fees & payment
Listing verified Oct 2025 · Source: CDC NPIN
A community safety-net rural health clinic about 7 miles from Plum Branch. Sliding-scale STD testing and care are typical here, call ahead to confirm the exact panel and pricing.
Tests offered
A public safety-net rural health clinic about 13 miles from Plum Branch. Sliding-scale STD testing and care are typical here, call ahead to confirm the exact panel and pricing.
Tests offered
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 4 miles away; if you'd rather skip the trip, an at-home kit ships to Plum Branch, 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.
Local clinicians
Beyond dedicated clinics, 415 primary-care, OB-GYN, infectious-disease and other clinicians have a CMS practice record within 30 miles of Plum Branch. They may be able to evaluate symptoms or order a confidential STD panel during a regular visit, and 82 offer telehealth.
John Benson, MD
Family medicine · 1319 South Main Street, Mc Cormick
April Smith, DO
Family medicine · 207 Holiday Road, Mc Cormick
Otabek Elmurodov
Family medicine · 920 Napiers Post Drive, Evans
Linda Street, MD
OB-GYN · 367 Gardenia Drive, Evans
George Rainsford, MD
Family medicine · 155 Ridge Medical Plaza Road, Edgefield
Georgia Lesser, MD
Family medicine · 300 Ridge Medical Plaza Road, Edgefield
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 Plum Branch, SC 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.
Strom's Drug Store
4.3 miCrawford & Breazeale Drug
13 mi
19 mi 
19 mi Edgefield Community Pharmacy
19 miShowing the 5 closest pharmacies to Plum Branch, SC.
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 Plum Branch, 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
$0 with most insurance
Free online PrEP & DoxyPEP: HIV prevention, home lab kits, no in-person visit
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 McCormick County, the county that includes Plum Branch, compare with South Carolina 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.
#43 of 46 South Carolina counties for chlamydia, a higher rate than 7% of the state
| Infection | McCormick County | South Carolina | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chlamydia | 392.3 39 cases ▼ 36% | 612.1 | 492.2 |
| Gonorrhea | 140.8 14 cases ▼ 37% | 222.4 | 179.5 |
| Syphilis (P&S) | 10.1 1 cases ▼ 42% | 17.3 | 15.8 |
| Syphilis (early) | 20.1 2 cases ▲ 7% | 18.8 | 16 |
| Syphilis (late/unknown) | — no data | 11.7 | 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 McCormick County, chlamydia has risen from 325.4 to 392.3 per 100,000 (21%), gonorrhea has fallen from 178.5 to 140.8 per 100,000 (21%), and P&S syphilis has fallen from 10.5 to 10.1 per 100,000 (4%).
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 McCormick County.
Local HIV snapshot
Federal priority area: South Carolina 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.
McCormick County HIV care continuum (2023)
McCormick County recorded 0 new HIV diagnoses per 100,000 (2023), against 18.3 statewide and 13.7 nationally. Among McCormick County residents living with HIV, 75% are in care · 62.5% 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 McCormick County tests for syphilis.
Source: CDC NCHHSTP AtlasPlus, 2023 (county-level congenital syphilis is not published).
Local resources & officials
Data & references
Local context
Plum Branch residents heading to Parksville Recreation Area or stopping along South Main Street for groceries pass within reach of clinics and urgent-care facilities that offer confidential STI testing. The town sits in a region where young adults, many in their late teens through thirties, are moving, working, and building lives, and routine screening has become as ordinary a health step as any other. Testing here carries no automatic trail of notification to family, employers, or anyone else; what you learn stays yours alone. A visit for testing doesn't require advance planning or travel far from home. Providers listed on this page serve Plum Branch and the surrounding area, and they understand that asking for a screening is straightforward.
No lecture, no judgment. Results arrive through secure channels you control, whether that means a phone call, a patient portal, or an in-person conversation. Getting tested early and regularly, especially after unprotected contact or between partners, is how people in Plum Branch stay informed about their health. If you have questions about what testing covers, which clinic fits your schedule, or how to pay, the information below walks through each provider's approach and hours.
Getting there
At 3.45/20 on the EPA walkability index, day-to-day errands in Plum Branch 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 29845 snapshot
ZIP-level Census figures for the wider 29845 area around Plum Branch: a single ZIP can span several communities, so they describe the area, not Plum Branch alone.
Plum Branch sits in McCormick County, ZIP 29845. Local context that shapes where residents test:
Local landmarks
Major routes
Nearby cities & towns
Just outside Plum Branch? 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 McCormick County: the CDC's screening guidelines, each infection's detection window, per-test reference prices, and your privacy rights under South Carolina 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 Plum Branch-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 Plum Branch 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 South Carolina 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 South Carolina, a minor of any age can consent to confidential STI testing and treatment on their own, no parental permission is required.
South Carolina 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 South CarolinaSource: 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.
Possibly, Abbeville, SC is close; compare it by distance against Carolina Health Centers.
Public clinics are free; private labs ~$24–$139, at-home kits $49+.
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 392 cases per 100,000 residents (2023), below the South Carolina average.
In South Carolina, people under 18 can consent to confidential STD testing and treatment on their own.
Yes, partners should test and be treated together to avoid passing it back and forth.
Yes, from a reputable lab, confirm any positive with a clinician for treatment.
Start treatment, tell recent partners so they can test, avoid sex until cleared, and retest if advised, most STIs resolve with care.
Likely yes, if you were past the window period; otherwise retest, and keep up routine screening with new partners.
Have a different question? Browse the full STD & STI FAQ library, every question we answer, in one place.