Mendocino County's gonorrhea rates run about 63% lower than the US average. Whether it's your first STI test or a routine screening in Point Arena, California, weigh cost, speed, and convenience from public clinics, private labs, and at-home kits. See your options below.
Available testing centers
7 testing options are listed for Point Arena, CA. The nearest, Redwood Coast Medical Services - Dental Clinic, 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.
A public safety-net federally qualified health center in Point Arena. Sliding-scale STD testing and care are typical here, call ahead to confirm the exact panel and pricing.
Tests offered
Fees & payment
Redwood Coast Medical Services in Point Arena runs appointments for gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, herpes, and HIV testing, treating bacterial infections the same visit when results call for it. Fees slide to match income, with Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance all accepted. Spanish-language care is available throughout.
For someone building a complete picture of their sexual health without a regular primary-care provider, the inclusion of herpes testing matters. Redwood Coast Medical Services runs it alongside the bacterial and viral panel, so one appointment covers the infections most clinics require a separate referral or specialist visit to address.
For a person managing both substance use and sexual health, and lacking a care team that handles either, having both programs at Redwood Coast Medical Services is the practical answer. There's no coordinating between separate providers or explaining your history twice; the clinic holds both services and can address them in tandem.
For a Spanish-speaking patient without a regular provider, the ability to ask questions, understand a diagnosis, and discuss treatment options in Spanish, without routing through a separate service, changes what a clinic visit actually delivers. At Redwood Coast Medical Services, Spanish is a working language of care, not an accommodation bolted on.
Languages
English, Spanish
Tests offered
Serves
Care services
Prevention services
Fees & payment
Listing verified Sep 2025 · Source: CDC NPIN + HRSA
Redwood Coast Med SVC Resrc CTR in Gualala welcomes walk-ins for STI screening without an appointment. Federal qualification ties fees to a sliding income scale, and a single visit can cover syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia testing for anyone who comes through the door.
Tests offered
Fees & payment
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 Point Arena, 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 Mendocino 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.
1 Marcela Drive, Willits, CA 95490
CMS-certified lab Accredited · Joint Commission
415 Hospital Drive, Ukiah, CA 95482
CMS-certified lab Accredited · Joint Commission
555 South Dora Street, Suite B, Ukiah, CA 95482
CMS-certified lab
Source: CMS CLIA registry (Provider of Services), Q1 2026. Federal public records: active CLIA-certified laboratories near Point Arena. 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, 22 primary-care, OB-GYN, infectious-disease and other clinicians have a CMS practice record within 30 miles of Point Arena. They may be able to evaluate symptoms or order a confidential STD panel during a regular visit, and 1 offer telehealth.
Stacey Carroll, MD
Family medicine · 46900 Ocean View Way, Gualala
Cary Smeltzer, DO
Family medicine · 13500 Airport Road, Boonville
Jeffrey Berenson, MD Telehealth
Internal medicine · 45081 Little Lake Street, Mendocino
Guy Teran, MD
Internal medicine · 333 Laws Avenue, Ukiah
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 Point Arena, CA 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.
Pharmblue California
0.2 miGualala Community Pharmacy
13 miGualala Pharmacy
13 miMendocino Village Pharmacy
28 miBlue Drug
31 mi
31 mi Showing the 6 closest pharmacies to Point Arena, CA.
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 Point Arena, 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 Mendocino County, the county that includes Point Arena, compare with California 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.
#35 of 58 California counties for chlamydia, a higher rate than 40% of the state
| Infection | Mendocino County | California | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chlamydia | 306.4 273 cases ▼ 38% | 491.1 | 492.2 |
| Gonorrhea | 67.3 60 cases ▼ 65% | 190.2 | 179.5 |
| Syphilis (P&S) | 30.3 27 cases ▲ 86% | 16.3 | 15.8 |
| Syphilis (early) | 13.5 12 cases ▼ 29% | 19.1 | 16 |
| Syphilis (late/unknown) | 19.1 17 cases ▼ 59% | 46.7 | 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 Mendocino County, chlamydia has fallen from 411.6 to 306.4 per 100,000 (26%), gonorrhea has fallen from 163.8 to 67.3 per 100,000 (59%), and P&S syphilis has risen from 7.6 to 30.3 per 100,000 (299%).
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 Mendocino County.
Local HIV snapshot
Mendocino County HIV care continuum (2020)
Mendocino County recorded 6.5 new HIV diagnoses per 100,000 (2020), against 14.9 statewide and 13.7 nationally. Among Mendocino County residents living with HIV, 84% are in care · 71.6% 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 Mendocino County tests for syphilis.
Source: CDC NCHHSTP AtlasPlus, 2023 (county-level congenital syphilis is not published).
Local resources & officials
Data & references
Local context
Along CA 1 where it cuts through Point Arena, work schedules don't follow a nine-to-five template for everyone: with well under two-thirds of residents in the labor force at any given time, and a meaningful slice dealing with unemployment, the window for routine health appointments can be unpredictable rather than reliably open. That scheduling reality shapes when testing is realistic, and the options listed on this page exist across a range of hours precisely because one slot won't fit every week. Nearly four in ten households here are renting at a monthly cost that leaves little room for unexpected medical bills, so the fee structures displayed in the clinic cards above matter in a tangible way.
Younger adults in their late teens and twenties, the years when STIs circulate most actively, are especially likely to weigh cost and distance before deciding whether to follow through on testing. The relatively small average household and a significant share of single or non-married adults means many people are navigating sexual health decisions independently. With the county STI figures already on screen, the practical question becomes which of those listed options fits the drive down CA 1 and back on the same afternoon.
Getting there
At 7.42/20 on the EPA walkability index, day-to-day errands in Point Arena 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 95468 snapshot
ZIP-level Census figures for the wider 95468 area around Point Arena: a single ZIP can span several communities, so they describe the area, not Point Arena alone.
Point Arena sits in Mendocino County, ZIP 95468. Local context that shapes where residents test:
Local landmarks
Major routes
Nearby cities & towns
Just outside Point Arena? 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 Mendocino County: the CDC's screening guidelines, each infection's detection window, per-test reference prices, and your privacy rights under California 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 Point Arena-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 Point Arena 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 California 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 California, a minor aged 12 or older can consent to confidential STI testing and treatment on their own, no parental permission is required.
California 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 CaliforniaSource: 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.
Yes, several local labs offer same-day walk-in testing; best to call first.
Usually yes, it can be billed to insurance, or paid out of pocket at a flat rate.
Public clinics serve people without insurance, often on a sliding scale.
A full panel typically covers chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, HIV, and hepatitis B and C.
Mendocino County reported ~306 chlamydia cases per 100,000 in 2023, below the California average.
In California, people under 18 can consent to confidential STD testing and treatment on their own.
Get treated, notify partners, pause sex until cleared, and follow up, the infection is manageable.
Often, yes, especially throat and rectal infections, which is why site-specific testing matters.
Reassuring if you tested after the window, just retest if it was early, and screen again with new partners.
Go to an ER or call RAINN (800-656-4673); they provide testing, PEP, and support right away.
Have a different question? Browse the full STD & STI FAQ library, every question we answer, in one place.