In Beaufort County, the reported gonorrhea rate runs about 40% lower than the US average. If you live in Shell Point, South Carolina, and are looking for a one-time concern or regular check-ups, you can weigh whether to see a local clinic that takes walk-ins for same-day testing, or plan around your own time with a lab or at-home kit. Your options are listed below.
Available testing centers
9 testing options are listed for Shell Point, SC. The nearest, Labcorp, is about 3.7 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 safety-net federally qualified health center about 4 miles from Shell Point. Sliding-scale STD testing and care are typical here, call ahead to confirm the exact panel and pricing.
Tests offered
Fees & payment
Beaufort Jasper Hampton Comprehensive Health Services in Port Royal runs on sliding-scale fees with Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance all accepted, covering gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes, and rapid HIV testing. Appointments are required; same-visit treatment is available for bacterial STIs. Ryan White funding anchors its HIV care from diagnosis forward.
Ryan White funding at Beaufort Jasper Hampton means a positive HIV result doesn't trigger a separate search for care: medical treatment, medication adherence counseling, and ongoing management are all funded through the same program that covers the test itself.
Beaufort Jasper Hampton writes PrEP prescriptions directly and manages the required follow-up lab work, typically every three months, alongside PEP for post-exposure situations, with both services staffed and monitored at the clinic rather than handed off to an outside provider.
For someone without a regular provider or paying on a sliding scale who wants a complete picture, Beaufort Jasper Hampton's panel extends to herpes testing alongside gonorrhea, syphilis, and rapid HIV. Giving cash-pay patients and the uninsured access to a broader workup in a single appointment.
Languages
English
Tests offered
Serves
Care services
Prevention services
Fees & payment
Listing verified Aug 2025 · Source: CDC NPIN + HRSA
Port Royal OB/GYN, in Beaufort, draws its sliding-scale STI screening from federally qualified health center funding. Meaning fees adjust to income across the board. Syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia testing are available, and the site's Ryan White program extends dedicated HIV care for those already diagnosed.
Tests offered
Fees & payment
South Carolina Department of Public Health in Beaufort runs on scheduled appointments, so arriving with a plan is how you get the most from a single visit: HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, herpes, and hepatitis C testing, same-visit bacterial treatment, sliding-scale fees, and care delivered in Spanish.
For someone without a regular provider who needs to describe symptoms accurately, ask about a prescription, or understand a treatment plan, having clinical staff who work in Spanish changes the depth of that conversation. At South Carolina Department of Public Health in Beaufort, Spanish isn't a bridge service. It's how the visit runs.
The clinic prescribes PrEP (an ongoing antiretroviral regimen requiring initial HIV testing, kidney labs, and regular follow-up monitoring) alongside PEP for post-exposure situations and DoxyPEP, the doxycycline protocol taken after potential bacterial STI exposure. All three are managed through the same clinical team at South Carolina Department of Public Health in Beaufort, not split across separate providers.
For anyone without a primary care doctor who needs a complete picture (not just gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, and HIV) South Carolina Department of Public Health in Beaufort adds herpes and hepatitis C to the panel, infections that often go undetected without a specific request and that primary care visits don't always include.
Languages
English, Spanish
Tests offered
Serves
Care services
Prevention services
Fees & payment
Listing verified Aug 2025 · Source: CDC NPIN
Beaufort-Jasper Hampton Comp HLTH Services in Okatie earns its federally qualified standing partly by tying fees to income, no one is turned away for inability to pay. Walk-ins are welcome for STI screening that covers syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia.
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 about 4 miles away; if you'd rather skip the trip, an at-home kit ships to Shell Point, 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.
Also in the area
Beyond the public testing sites above, these federally certified (CLIA) labs serve Beaufort 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 Buckwalter Place Boulevard, Bluffton, SC 29910
CMS-certified lab Accredited · College of American Pathologists
15 Hospital Center Boulevard Suite 1, Hilton Head Island, SC 29926
CMS-certified lab
349 Tidewatch Drive, Bluffton, SC 29910
CMS-certified lab Accredited · Joint Commission
Source: CMS CLIA registry (Provider of Services), Q1 2026. Federal public records: active CLIA-certified laboratories near Shell Point. 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, 231 primary-care, OB-GYN, infectious-disease and other clinicians have a CMS practice record within 30 miles of Shell Point. They may be able to evaluate symptoms or order a confidential STD panel during a regular visit, and 79 offer telehealth.
Eve Ashby, DO Telehealth
OB-GYN · 300 Midtown Drive, Beaufort
Alejandro Garciasalas, MD Telehealth
Internal medicine · 300 Midtown Drive, Beaufort
Spenser Staub
Internal medicine · 300 Midtown Drive, Beaufort
Randy Kinnard, MD
Internal medicine · 10 A Marshellen Drive, Beaufort
Mark Bechtel, DO
Family medicine · 1680 Ribaut Road, Port Royal
Glen Welcker
Family medicine · 1680 Ribaut Road, Port Royal
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 Shell Point, 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.
3.6 mi 
4.1 mi Bjhchs Port Royal Pharmacy
4.3 mi
4.3 mi Beaufort Pharmacy and Compouding
4.7 mi
5.2 mi Showing the 6 closest pharmacies to Shell Point, 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 Shell Point, 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 $0 insured
Telehealth STI treatment and sexual-health care, delivered or to your pharmacy
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
How reported STI rates in Beaufort County, the county that includes Shell Point, compare with South Carolina and U.S. averages, based on the most recent 2023 surveillance data. An estimated ~27% of residents are aged 15–34 (ACS), the age group with the highest reported chlamydia and gonorrhea rates nationally.
#40 of 46 South Carolina counties for chlamydia, a higher rate than 13% of the state
| Infection | Beaufort County | South Carolina | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chlamydia | 407.6 811 cases ▼ 33% | 612.1 | 492.2 |
| Gonorrhea | 108.1 215 cases ▼ 51% | 222.4 | 179.5 |
| Syphilis (P&S) | 3 6 cases ▼ 83% | 17.3 | 15.8 |
| Syphilis (early) | 3.5 7 cases ▼ 81% | 18.8 | 16 |
| Syphilis (late/unknown) | 7 14 cases ▼ 40% | 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 Beaufort County, chlamydia has risen from 405.1 to 407.6 per 100,000 (1%), gonorrhea has fallen from 159.8 to 108.1 per 100,000 (32%), and P&S syphilis has risen from 2.7 to 3 per 100,000 (11%).
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 Beaufort 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.
Beaufort County HIV care continuum (2023)
Beaufort County recorded 15.4 new HIV diagnoses per 100,000 (2023), against 18.3 statewide and 13.7 nationally. Among Beaufort County residents living with HIV, 67.5% are in care · 50.1% 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.
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 Beaufort County tests for syphilis.
Source: CDC NCHHSTP AtlasPlus, 2023 (county-level congenital syphilis is not published).
Local resources & officials
Data & references
Local context
Shell Point (Beaufort County, South Carolina) is a mid-size, suburban community, where the jobless rate sits near 5.4%. About 25.5% of adults hold a college degree, and single adults are a large share of the population. With appointments in demand, mail-in kits and telehealth offer a quicker, private route.
Getting there
At 6.04/20 on the EPA walkability index, day-to-day errands in Shell Point 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 29906 snapshot
ZIP-level Census figures for the wider 29906 area around Shell Point: a single ZIP can span several communities, so they describe the area, not Shell Point alone.
Shell Point sits in Beaufort County, ZIP 29906. Local context that shapes where residents test:
Local landmarks
Neighborhoods & communities
Major routes
Nearby cities & towns
Just outside Shell Point? 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 Beaufort 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 Shell Point-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 Shell Point 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, Hilton Head Island, SC is close; compare it by distance against Labcorp.
Medicaid generally covers STD testing, and public clinics test for free regardless of coverage.
Public clinics nearby offer free HIV 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 408 cases per 100,000 residents (2023), below the South Carolina average.
PrEP (HIV-prevention medicine for HIV-negative people) is available locally, any provider can prescribe it.
In South Carolina, people under 18 can consent to confidential STD testing and treatment on their own.
Lab results typically come back in 1–2 days.
Start treatment, tell recent partners so they can test, avoid sex until cleared, and retest if advised, most STIs resolve with care.
Resistance is rising, which is why the CDC advises a particular treatment; don't self-treat, get tested and treated correctly.
Have a different question? Browse the full STD & STI FAQ library, every question we answer, in one place.