9 Best Places for Free STD Testing in San Francisco
Summertime is here! And that means bad sexual decisions. But you can make up for those bad decisions by doing the responsible thing and getting your bits checked for various sexually transmitted infections. We’ve listed nine of the best free STD testing clinics in San Francisco… but feel free to pound us in the comments if you think we’ve left any good ones out.
The CDC recommends getting tested every 6 months to a year, depending on how much and what kind of action you get. Not all of the facilities listed here test for every STD. There is no single method that can test you for every sexually transmitted infection. The “basic” STD test generally tests for HIV, chlamydia and gonorrhea. Whereas herpes and hepatitis you will often have to ask for specifically, and the clinic might not offer it. We’ve done our best to detail which clinics test for which.
Yes, many primary care physicians can test for STDs. But in many cases, you’re still looking at a to co-pay. Or maybe you just don’t have something called a “primary care physician. If you fall into one of those categories, this list is for you.
Alliance Health Project – 1930 Market St.
Tests for: HIV, chlamydia
Image: dk h. via Yelp
A UCSF project, Alliance Health Project provides HIV testing for free to everyone and chlamydia testing to men and transgender clients who have sex with men.
San Francisco City Clinic – 356 7th St.
Tests for: HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes
Image: Ramon L. via Yelp
It can get a little rough trade (see above) but San Francisco City Clinic will test you for free, or $10 if you feel you can afford it.
Magnet – 4122 18th St.
Tests for: HIV, syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea
Image: Torbakhopper via Flickr
Magnet is one of the swankest places in town to get tested, and yes they actually have those magnets. But they only serve gay men. To that end, they are moving to 474 Castro in August.
Women’s Community Clinic – 1833 Fillmore St.
Tests for: HIV, HPV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, Hepatitis A, B and C
The ladies option is the Women’s Community Clinic, where testing is free and other medical services are provided very affordably.
New Generation Health Center – 625 Potrero
Tests for: HIV, chlamydia,gonorrhea, HIV, and syphiliis
Image: Mei-Lani B via Yelp
It’s only for people under 25, but they test for pretty much everything other than herpes and hepatitis.
Lyon Martin Health Services – 1748 Market St.
Tests for: HIV, chlamydia, herpes, gonorrhea
Image: Kara D. via Yelp
Lyon Martin is technically a sliding scale but it’s free if you need it to be. Friendly to all communities, but geared toward the female and trans communities.
Glide Health Services – 330 Ellis
Tests for: HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, herpes, syphilis
Glide Health Services is not intended to be free unless you are straight-up homeless or tragically in need. But for those populations, it’s there. For everyone else, it is low-cost.
Haight Ashbury Free Clinics – 558 Clayton
Tests for: HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, herpes, syphilis
Image: George Kelly via Flickr
Despite the name, the Haight Ashbury Free Clinics is no longer free for everyone, but you can probably get tested for under $20 depending on your situation.
St. James Infirmary – 1372 Mission St.
Tests for: HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, herpes, syphilis
Image: Yuki T. via Yelp
St. James Infirmary is a facility for sex workers (and their families) and that is not most of you. But they have been doing wonderful goddamned work since 1999.
I should point out that it is more accurate to call them STIs (sexually transmitted infections) than STDs (sexually transmitted diseases). Diseases have symptoms, whereas some STIs do not show symptoms. I used improper clinical language basically to get more pageviews from Google. After all, I do want this article to go ‘viral’.
