Hospitals and Clinics Remain Safe and Open
When it comes to our community’s safety, United Regional hasn’t missed a beat. We have continued to take care of our patients, whether they have COVID-19, chest pain, difficulty breathing, broken bones, or other urgent or emergent conditions.
Don’t Put Off The Care You Need
If you are needing immediate, emergency care, please don’t put off seeking medical treatment at the nearest Emergency Department. Hospitals are open to ALL patients, and delaying diagnosis and treatment can put patients at great risk. We are prepared for COVID-19 related needs, while also ready to care for other health care needs as well.
Even in the case of limited bed availability, the hospital will continue to accept patients who arrive to our facility – whether by ambulance, private vehicle, etc. Patients will be assessed upon arrival, and those with the most severe conditions will be treated first, like always.
For patients with life-threatening injuries, they will receive the lifesaving care they need – it just may not look like what they traditionally expect if bed capacity is limited. For example, patients may have to stay in the Emergency Department after initial treatment while waiting for a bed to open up, if they are admitted to the hospital. Patients whose injuries are not life-threatening may experience longer weight times, much like they might during a typical peak flu season.
Safety Protocols
Long before this current health crisis, United Regional has had both workflow and infection control processes in place to ensure the safety of our patients and employees. Facing challenges is nothing new for our employees; in many ways, it is what we train for through drills with our regional partners.
In response to this specific health crisis, additional safety protocols and plans have been implemented and adapted to best meet the needs of our staff and patients. United Regional is carefully following national, state and local guidelines, and taking measured steps to ensure it is appropriate and safe to get the care you need. These additional measures include:
- Limited access/screening process. We have limited visitors/personal caregivers to one per patient (except, for example, in end-of-life situations); COVID-positive (and COVID-suspected) patients may not have visitors. All patients, visitors, employees and physicians who come into our buildings are screened via temperature and questionnaire for potential COVID symptoms/exposure.
- Cohorting of COVID-positive (and COVID-suspected) patients. These patients are appropriately isolated within dedicated units, with dedicated nursing staff. These units are restricted as to entry, with enhanced personal protective equipment (PPE) and exposure prevention processes in place. Likewise, the Emergency Department, and other locations such as CarePlus, have established procedures for segregating and protecting patients from potential exposures when possible COVID patients present to our facility.
- Intensity of disinfection throughout facilities. We are always attentive to infection prevention processes, and we are currently super-focused in doing so. To further conserve disinfection supplies (and concentrate those supplies to patient and public areas), we have a number of employees working from home.
- Infection prevention experts guiding our efforts. We are in constant communication with our infection prevention team – a group of highly-trained, informed, and engaged professionals who are contributing their expertise to decisions and actions, as well as answering questions as they arise.
Working with Regional Facilities
If United Regional needed to free up beds for patients with more complex or severe conditions, we would work with regional facilities to transfer our patients with conditions such as pneumonia, simple diabetic issues and dehydration to those facilities.
Shared Responsibility
We understand that everyone is COVID-fatigued, but we have a shared responsibility to each other. Our staff are doing their part by working to provide excellent health care to our patients. We’re asking you to do your part and continue to practice social distancing, wear a mask, and wash your hands. While you may feel healthy and unconcerned about contracting COVID, please consider your loved ones who are more susceptible to severe symptoms or complications, such as relatives and coworkers who have compromised immune systems or chronic conditions. If you aren’t feeling well, please stay home unless you are seeking medical attention. Limit your exposure to others, especially if you have a fever, and don’t assume it’s allergies, your sinuses or a common cold.