Some SLO County hospitals have limited visitations due to coronavirus
Updated 11:57 a.m. Tuesday, March 17
With three confirmed cases of coronavirus in San Luis Obispo County, Dignity Health Hospitals and Tenant Health Hospitals have restricted visitation guidelines to protect patients from the spread of COVID-19.
At Tenant Health Hospitals, which includes Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center and Twin Cities Community Hospital, patients under investigation or who have a confirmed positive for COVID-19 cannot accept visitors.
Other patients are only permitted one visit per day, visitors must be visiting a patient admitted, undergoing a procedure, or being evaluated in the Emergency Department, and visitors must pass hospital screening criteria.
To meet screening criteria, the visitor much have no signs or symptoms of a fever or respiratory illness, be over the age of 15, and not have had contact with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 or is under investigation for COVID-19 or has been hospitalized for a respiratory illness in the last 14 days. People who have traveled to level three countries like China, Korea, Iran, Italy or Europe or been on a cruise in the last 14 days are also prohibited.
At Dignity Health Hospitals, which includes Arroyo Grande Community Hospital, French Hospital Medical Center and Marian Regional Medical Center, only one person may visit a patient per day, all visitors must be 16 years old or older, and all patients and visitors must only enter through the hospital or emergency department, according to a news release.
“By limiting the number of people in the hospital setting, we are following the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines for reducing the spread of flu-like illnesses,” the Dignity Health news release read.
Visitors are currently not allowed at Marian Extended Care Center.
Additional guidelines include masks be worn at all times for Emergency Department patients experiencing fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, or nasal congestion.
French Hospital also closed its meeting spaces that are offered to nonprofit organizations and community members, their website read. Meeting spaces include the Copeland Health Education Pavilion, the French Hospital Auditorium and the hospital’s other meeting areas.
“We have to put safety first — the health and well being of our employees, medical community, patients and partners is of utmost priority. We look forward to rescheduling any events that were planned as soon as we are able,” French Hospital CEO and President Alan Iftiniuk said in a news release.
Original story:
There have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus in San Luis Obispo County. However, local hospitals are taking precautions in case there is an outbreak in the area.
According to the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department, each hospital or health care facility implements their own policies and methods based on the guidance the department provides on screening and testing.
All local hospitals say they’re following the guidance of the federal Centers for Disease Control and county Public Health.
Tenet Health Central Coast, which operates Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo and Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton, says it’s “monitoring information from federal, state and local public health agencies for current information on the coronavirus.”
“Our hospitals have taken the appropriate steps, including constructing screening tents, and we have trained professionals and the necessary equipment to react accordingly,” the company said in a statement.
Twin Cities Community Hospital set up screening tents after a patient suspected of having coronavirus tested negative for the virus March 5.
And a section of Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center’s intensive care unit has been sectioned off in the event that a patient needs to be isolated.
“As with any communicable disease, as our patients enter the hospital in areas such as emergency department or registration, hospital staff are questioning all of their recent travel and detailing symptoms,” Tenant Health Central Coast said in its statement. “We evaluate relevant symptom criteria and implement contact airborne isolation, if required, without delay.”
Dignity Health, which operates French Hospital Medical Center in San Luis Obispo, Arroyo Grande Community Hospital and Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria, declined to comment, referring questions to the public health department.
According to the Dignity Health website, the company, like Tenant Health, are following CDC and public health agency guidelines.
How should hospitals deal with possible COVID-19 cases?
When a person with systems that resemble those of coronavirus enters a hospital in San Luis Obispo County, health care providers are being asked to identify whether the person has traveled or been in close contact with anyone with COVID-19 within the past 14 days, according to a flowchart the public health department provided local health providers.
If the person has been exposed and has a fever or symptoms of lower respiratory illness, the patient will be isolated and the hospital will contact the health department to report an “at-risk” patient.
The way a person is isolated depends on the resources available at each individual hospital and how full the hospital is, San Luis Obispo County deputy health officer Rick Rosen told The Tribune via email.
According to Rosen, if possible, individuals should be isolated in a negative-pressure isolation room. It wasn’t clear at press time where the county currently has a hospital with a negative-pressure isolation room.
Once isolated, the health department will determine whether or not a test is required, Rosen said. Currently, the CDC is the only agency that can test for COVID-19.
Patients will be tested if they have a fever, a cough or shortness of breath and have traveled to China within 14 days of the symptoms, a history of traveling to the Hubei Province of China or have been in contact with someone with a confirmed case of COVID-19.
If patients are discharged, Rosen wrote that they should “stay at home until they are symptom-free and without fever for at least 24 hours.”
“Ideally, an individual with symptoms or fever should wear a regular surgical mask when around other people,” he wrote.
According to Rosen, all healthcare providers have personal protective equipment, including gloves, masks and eye protection to ensure employees’ exposure is limited. The health department is also encouraging frequent hand washing.
What is coronavirus?
Symptoms of the virus that causes COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath, which may occur two days to two weeks after exposure. Most develop only mild symptoms, but some people develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia.
Coronavirus is spread through contact between people within six feet of each other, especially through coughing and sneezing that expels respiratory droplets that land in the mouths or noses of people nearby.
The federal Centers for Disease Control say it’s possible to catch the disease COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, and then touching your own face, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”
So far, more than 107,000 cases have been reported worldwide. And in the U.S., 469 cases have been reported, including 19 deaths — all but three of which have been in Washington state.
What to do if you have a fever or cough
According to Rosen, people with flu-like illnesses should stay home and avoid going to public places like work or school. If the symptoms are severe, they should consult their doctor or go to the nearest emergency room.
“Hospitals in the area have developed plans in the event that we see a significant increase in the number of sick patients that present to their emergency rooms,” Rosen wrote.
Rosen said people who plan to go to the doctor’s office or emergency room with symptoms should call in advance.
Rosen also advised that people who have flu-like symptoms for more than a week, people who are 65 years and older, or those who have chronic medical conditions and have a flu-like illness should consult with their regular doctor.
“The risk to the general public at this moment remains low,” Dr. Penny Borenstein of San Luis Obispo County Public Health said in a statement, adding that the department “will notify our residents if and when we do have a confirmed case in our county.”
More information can be found at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus or www.slocounty.ca.gov/Departments/Health-Agency/Public-Health.aspx.
This story was originally published March 8, 2020 at 11:44 AM.
