Guest columnist: Keeping Up With the Jones, by Eva Benedict

Keeping Up With the Jones

By Eva Benedict, CEO

March 24, 2020

 

 

There is no question these are challenging times we are going through. I want to take this opportunity to tell you what is happening here at Jones Memorial Hospital as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.   Like other hospitals around the world, Jones Memorial has made adjustments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are also working collaboratively with our UR partners, state and local health departments, and community health providers to prepare for an increase in acutely ill patients.  These measures reflect our commitment to health of this community. Patient safety remains a priority. 

First and foremost, the hospital is open for business. We will continue to care for individuals in need of emergency and inpatient care and provide laboratory and medical imaging testing needed by your provider to treat acute and chronic conditions. In addition, the walk-in clinic remains open from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. daily and the Emergency Department is open 24/7, as always. The Jones Memorial Medical Practices are still seeing patients for acute illnesses; only routine office visits are being rescheduled.

Concern for the safety of our patients and staff led us to implement a ZERO visitor policy for adult patients. Pediatric patients may have one guardian with them and OB patients can have one support person with them for the duration of their stay – labor, delivery, and postpartum. We are discouraging people from coming to the hospital and screening those who must come before allowing them entry into the building. Anyone who has a cough, fever, or shortness of breath is encouraged to call their provider before going to the office and, if a test is deemed necessary, it can done outside of the building if the individual doesn’t need to see their provider.  All of these measures are to limit exposure to the COVID-19 virus and conserve our valuable resources, supplies, and human resources, in the event they are needed to care for our community, should we experience a significant surge in very ill individuals. 

As you have heard on the news, testing supplies for COVID-19 are in very short supply and as a consequence test results are delayed.  In order to conserve valuable resources Jones Memorial Hospital and the UR system is reserving testing for severely ill patients and symptomatic medical personnel needing testing so they can return to the workforce. 

I would like to thank our patients and our community for their understanding and cooperation during this trying time.  For the latest updates and information please visit the Jones Memorial Hospital website, jones.urmc.edu, and our Facebook page. In addition, an excellent source for information about the crisis is the CDC website: www.CDC.gov.