The patient is not on a ventilator and is currently recovering in the hospital’s intensive care unit. The patient did not come in contact with any other patients at OGH. Hospital staff who examined and continue to treat the patient are using all appropriate measures to avoid potential exposure to the virus. This includes use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE).
The patient is a 35-year-old female from Allegany County.
The Cattaraugus County Department of Health is conducting
its standard investigation and tracking of the patient and the patient’s
contacts.
“We cannot thank our staff enough for their commitment to patient
and employee safety at OGH,” said Jeff Zewe, RN, president and CEO of Upper
Allegheny Health System (UAHS).
Early in March, UAHS and its member hospitals, Olean General
Hospital and Bradford Regional Medical Center, established an organization-wide
coronavirus steering committee and command center operation to address this
pandemic. The group has been coordinating emergency preparedness, response
efforts, as well as daily communication with federal, state and county
agencies.
“We are so proud of the preparedness and effort put forth to
help ensure the health and safety of our employees, our patients and the
community at large,” Zewe said. “Our
thoughts are with the patient during recovery,” Zewe said.
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A point of clarification from Olean General.
There have been a number of misstatements and rumors on social media and
websites relative to the efforts by Olean General Hospital and Bradford
Regional Medical to increase bed capacity at both hospitals in anticipation of
a potential surge in COVID-19 patients.
These rumors suggest that patients will be flown into our hospitals from
outside the region. This is not true.
Our goal is to create enough capacity to serve local needs. There is no
expectation, nor have there been any indications that patients will be coming
into our facilities from outside the region. At this point, we do not think it
is likely we will be seeing patients from other areas.
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