CHCS resumes visitor restrictions, maintains other COVID-19 precautions

COVID-19 cases continue to rise in our service area, so Community HealthCare System is re-instituting visitor restrictions and maintaining other COVID-19 precautions.

Starting at 7:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 12, hospitalized patients, including those delivering babies at the Birth Center, will be allowed one designated visitor. Designated visitors will be issued a purple bracelet to indicate their status during the length of their loved one’s stay in the hospital. As has been the case throughout the last several months, visitors must:

Be screened upon entrance;
Appropriately wear a mask over their mouth and nose throughout their visit;
Check in at the nurses station and acknowledge guidelines; and
Visit from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. except in extreme circumstances.

Pediatric patients will be allowed both parents as designated visitors.

COVID-19 patients or patients who are persons under investigation for COVID-19 will not be allowed visitors. Hospital staff members are available to work with loved ones to facilitate virtual visits. Please call the Onaga nurses’ station at 785-889-5007 or the St. Marys nurse’s station at 785-437-3407 to express your interest.

Clinic and outpatient surgery patients will continue to be allowed one support person during their visit as long as the support person is screened and masked.

Many other COVID-19 precautions remain in effect.

Associates are screened with temperature checks and questions about symptoms and travel each day when they come to work, and all associates are required to wear masks while at work.
Patients and visitors/support persons are screened with temperature checks and questions about symptoms and travel when they enter our facilities; procedure masks are provided for all, and masks are required during hospital visits and in some other areas of our hospitals and clinics.
Some areas of our hospitals are closed to visitors, and plexiglass barriers have been installed in most registration locations.
Waiting areas in hospitals and clinics are arranged to allow for social distancing.
Our already high standards for cleaning and sterilization are being supplemented with extra cleaning of high-touch surfaces.
Clinics have different times or spaces set aside for well patient visits and for patients who are ill. Patients with COVID-19 symptoms are instructed to call before entering clinics and are taken directly to exam rooms.
Extensive infection control training for associates has been provided and is ongoing and updated as necessary.
Virtual visits and home visits remain available for patients who meet specific criteria.