diff --git a/.env.test b/.env.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..da218ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.test
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+NODE_ENV=test
+PORT=4040
+MONGO_HOST=mongodb://localhost/hl7-telescoper-api-server-development
+MONGO_PORT=27017
+JWT_SECRET=0a6b944d-d2fb-46fc-a85e-0295c986cd9f
+JWT_EXP_TIME=1h
+FILE_UPLOAD_PATH=data/hl7-uploads-test
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/config/config.js b/config/config.js
index b3f2954..62ef7b9 100644
--- a/config/config.js
+++ b/config/config.js
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
 const Joi = require('joi');
+const dotenv = require('dotenv')
 
+// require and configure dotenv, will load vars in .env or .env.test in PROCESS.ENV
+if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'test') {
+  console.log('config.js: Using .env.test')
+  dotenv.config({ path: '.env.test' });
+} else {
+  console.log('config.js: Using .env')
+  dotenv.config();
+}
 // require and configure dotenv, will load vars in .env in PROCESS.ENV
 require('dotenv').config();
 
diff --git a/server/hl7/hl7.test.js b/server/hl7/hl7.test.js
index acff295..752f086 100644
--- a/server/hl7/hl7.test.js
+++ b/server/hl7/hl7.test.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ const httpStatus = require('http-status');
 const chai = require('chai'); // eslint-disable-line import/newline-after-import
 const expect = chai.expect;
 const app = require('../../index');
+const fs = require('fs');
 
 chai.config.includeStack = true;
 
@@ -11,6 +12,11 @@ chai.config.includeStack = true;
  * root level hooks
  */
 after((done) => {
+  // Deleting any sample HL7 message used for testing if they exist already before running tests
+  fs.unlinkSync('data/hl7-uploads-test/500HL7Messages.txt', (err) => {
+    if (err) throw err;
+    console.log('data/hl7-uploads-test/500HL7Messages.txt was deleted');
+  });
   // required because https://github.com/Automattic/mongoose/issues/1251#issuecomment-65793092
   mongoose.models = {};
   mongoose.modelSchemas = {};
@@ -25,6 +31,10 @@ const user = {
 };
 let userToken = '';
 before((done) => {
+  if(!fs.existsSync('data/hl7-uploads-test')) {
+    fs.mkdirSync('data/hl7-uploads-test')
+  }
+
   // create a user
   request(app)
     .post('/api/users')
@@ -46,7 +56,7 @@ before((done) => {
 
 describe('## File Upload', () => {
   describe('# POST /api/hl7/upload', () => {
-    it('should upload a file to /data/hl7-uploads', (done) => {
+    it('should upload a file to /data/hl7-uploads-test', (done) => {
       request(app)
         .post('/api/hl7/upload')
         .set('Authorization', `Bearer ${userToken}`)
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index a775145..7029e45 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ bcrypt-pbkdf@^1.0.0:
   dependencies:
     tweetnacl "^0.14.3"
 
-bcrypt@false3.0.6:
+bcrypt@3.0.6:
   version "3.0.6"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/bcrypt/-/bcrypt-3.0.6.tgz#f607846df62d27e60d5e795612c4f67d70206eb2"
   integrity sha512-taA5bCTfXe7FUjKroKky9EXpdhkVvhE5owfxfLYodbrAR1Ul3juLmIQmIQBK4L9a5BuUcE6cqmwT+Da20lF9tg==