UMC issued the following statement.
Effective
Monday at noon, the University of Mississippi Medical Center will
restrict visitors at its Jackson-based hospitals in an effort to lessen
the spread of the novel coronavirus and help ensure the safety of
patients, visitors, employees and students.
As
of Saturday, the Mississippi State Department of Health had announced
six presumptive positive cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the
novel coronavirus. Mississippi cases currently cover the counties of
Forrest, Leflore, Copiah and Pearl River. It is generally accepted that
Mississippi is experiencing community spread of COVID-19, the disease
caused by the novel coronavirus
Medical
Center leadership is enacting a revised visitor policy for all UMMC
hospitals. The primary restrictions being put in place are:
- Adult patients are not permitted to have visitors except in certain circumstances according to hospital visitation policies.
- Pediatric patients (Children’s of Mississippi) are permitted to have only two adult visitors, but both must be parents, guardians or caregivers.
Temporary visitor
restrictions are already in effect for UMMC Grenada and UMMC Holmes
County. The Jackson hospitals are University Hospital, Wiser Hospital
for Women and Infants, Batson Children’s Hospital and Conerly Critical
Care Hospital.
Also, beginning Monday, there will be only two entrances for patients and visitors of the Jackson-based hospitals:
- The front entrance of University Hospital (under the overhang facing State Street near Garage A)
- The side entrance to Wiser Hospital for Women and Children (under the overhang facing Garage B)
Patients
and visitors will be screened at those two entrances. Patients who
exhibit symptoms associated with respiratory illness (fever, runny nose,
cough, shortness of breath) or report they have recently visited an
area identified as a location experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak will
receive further evaluation to determine next steps. Visitors that meet
any of these criteria will not be allowed to enter under any
circumstances.
Along
with the person doing the screening, also present at these two
entrances will be a Campus Police officer and a patient experience
representative. The entrances for University Heart, Adult and Pediatric
EDs and the Pavilion will be open, but will not provide patients and
visitors access to hospitals.
Restrictions
and entry screenings also apply to patients and visitors needing to
enter a hospital for a hospital-based clinic or procedure appointments.
For more information about COVID-19 in Mississippi and preparations by UMMC, click here.
5 comments:
Great move. They are also screening employees when they leave to check for hoarding of gloves, masks and sanitizer. All the hospitals are.
@8:19. Not hoarding. Theft. Check your dictionary.
This will cut down a lot on visitors. Half the crowd showing up most mornings are there to check on their friend-boy (or girl) that got shot or cut last night.
If the situation is so serious why are they waiting until Monday? Why not put the restrictions in place immediately?
Great question, 4:28. Hospital powers apparently decided they'd rather endanger the public, patients and staff than put a couple more guards on duty to handle the bitching visitors who show up prior to Monday.
And for those of you seated in the 'Cry-Wolf seats and the 'it's all fabricated' bleachers, you don't get to make these decisions, so shut the hell up.
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