Gerald Heigis is actually a dentist.
But then came the pandemic and the doctor became an entrepreneur.
He has set up 15 rapid test stations in and around Munich.
County
authorities, mayors, business people want to work with him.
The doctor and dentist Dr.
Dr.
Gerald Heigis found himself in a vacuum with his rapid test stations and suddenly became an entrepreneur on a large scale.
In addition to dental treatments and jaw operations, his profession is suddenly corona rapid tests.
Heigis offers free rapid tests in the state capital and in the district.
The 46-year-old has set up 15 test stations since Christmas: in the Gärtnerplatztheater, in bars and restaurants, eleven are in the state capital and four in the district of Munich.
They are open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The free citizen tests are offered by trained employees without prior appointment, for example in the community center in Haar, in the Garching business campus, at Äußere Hauptstrasse 28 in Neubiberg and at Pater-Rupert-Mayer-Weg 1 in Taufkirchen.
"We get up to a million rapid antigen tests per week."
While citizens and employees are more willing to test, the difficulty of obtaining tests is still hampering the offer in many places.
Thanks to his collaboration with a specialist retailer, Heigis can expand: “We get up to a million rapid antigen tests per week.” He has “a strong partner” who can finance the purchase of the tests in advance.
And here is the risk: His company Biotech & Capital Consulting GmbH, based in Grünwald, has to make advance payments.
The billing will "hopefully be done quickly", says Heigis, via the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians.
“We get between 12 and 15 euros for carrying out a test”, he doesn't know for sure, it depends on whether the test centers are classified as “medically managed”.
The risk is manageable, “I can still sleep well.
The authorities came up to me. ”After all, it is about building a comprehensive infrastructure for free testing if you are soon allowed to visit a restaurant, fitness center or theater with a negative rapid test.
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Recognized the need: Gerald Heigis (46) is setting up test sites in the city and district.
© IHNS / private
The demand is great.
"In the community center in Haar 150 to 250 people come to the quick test every day," reports Heigis.
His phone is glowing.
The sports-loving Munich-born resident with roots in Stuttgart and Tübingen has just received the next request: A Munich local politician asked him to set up a test site in a parish hall in Munich-Hadern.
Heigis only works part-time in his dental practice in the Olympic village, so much has to be organized.
What encourages and pleases him: "Many citizens write us such nice e-mails because they are grateful that they can easily find a test offer."
High demand before Christmas
The idea with the test stations came about by chance: "Before Christmas, patients who wanted to visit their families asked me, you are also a doctor, so many students live here, can't you also offer corona tests?" Then he read the guidelines a.
The requirements are high: you need your own room and a specialist including protective equipment for the tests.
Shortly afterwards, he opened a rapid test station in separate rooms in his practice.
As soon as the information under "corona-teststelle-muenchen.de" appeared on the Internet, people stood in line.
"We were overrun."
Prepared for compulsory testing in companies
Heigis recognized the need, his entrepreneurial spirit was awakened.
He quickly found friends and restaurateurs who offered rooms and placed staff.
They set up four test sites together before Christmas.
"There are so many people in Munich who work in the catering industry and who are no longer employed in the pandemic." At that time, citizens had to pay 30 euros for a quick test, but they were still in demand.
But after the holidays, demand collapsed.
"We had a dry spell." Nevertheless, Heigis kept the offer up, the test sites remained open.
“I also wanted to keep the employees.” On March 8, the situation changed suddenly: The Ministry of Health announced that it would pay every citizen a rapid corona test at least once a week.
Since then, Heigis and his employees have been very busy.
And if the compulsory test for companies comes, he is also prepared: In response to inquiries, mobile teams run quick tests in companies.
We provide information on all developments relating to the coronavirus in the Munich district in our news ticker.
