At Atchison Hospital and Clinics, we treat patients with communicable diseases on a daily basis. There are protocols in place to care for these patients while ensuring the safety of hospital staff, visitors, and the community. In response to the COVID-19 public health emergency that could cause a surge of patients, we have increased our preparedness and coordination activities.
Atchison Hospital has a clinically-led team working closely with the CDC and local and state health departments in Kansas to stay abreast of the latest developments. Multiple channels of communications and preparedness planning are in place and 2-3 daily meetings are being held to review preparedness procedures and pivot as needed.
Entrance Screenings Effective March 20, 2020
Effective Friday, March 20, we are adjusting our COVID-19 preparedness procedures to include screenings for all patients, visitors, and employees. We advise you to arrive earlier than usual for any appointments.
- Access for patients and visitors will be limited to designated entrances.
- All patients and visitors will be screened for signs of respiratory illness including fever and cough and will be asked about recent travel.
- Patients and visitors without symptoms will be given a screening verification badge and allowed to enter.
- Those who have non-severe symptoms such as fever or cough will be given information about what to do and asked to return home to help prevent the potential spread of illness.
- As a reminder, anyone who is actively experiencing severe symptoms – including fever and respiratory trouble – should call their primary care provider before going to any health care facility for guidance on what to do next. Patients who do not call ahead risk infecting other patients as well as care providers.
Visitor Restrictions Effective March 20, 2020
Ensuring patients are cared for in a safe and healthy environment is always our highest priority. Therefore, in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, Atchison Hospital is adjusting our preparedness procedures to include a restricted visitor policy to protect the health and safety of our patients, families, and staff. Our policy follows guidance from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and is intended to minimize the spread of COVID-19 in the Atchison Hospital facility, our clinics, and the communities we serve.
Effective March 20, 2020:
- Visitors will be screened for signs of respiratory illness including fever and cough and will be asked about recent travel.
- Unless onsite to be treated as a patient, visitors with cold or flu symptoms are not allowed to enter the facility.
- Visitors will not be allowed to enter the hospital between 8:00 pm and 6:30 am except in the event of an emergency.
- No more than 1 visitor per patient at a time will be allowed for any hospital or clinic area.
- Children are strongly discouraged from visiting at this time.
- No visitors are allowed in high risk patient care areas except those who are medically or operationally necessary or related to end-of-life care.
Though onsite visitors have temporary restrictions to help minimize the spread of COVID-19, we highly encourage virtual visits using technology such as FaceTime, Messenger, or other live video platforms. Please respect the privacy of others by avoiding photos or videos of other patients.
Auxiliary Volunteer Program Suspended
As the situation with COVID-19 (coronavirus) continues to rapidly evolve, Atchison Hospital is working diligently to monitor developments and implement guidelines to prevent the spread of infection. Our top priority is to keep patients, visitors, team members, and the community at large safe. At this time, our hospital volunteers who are 65 years of age or older have been asked to remain home.
Event Cancellations Through May 15th
With the well-being of our communities the foremost concern, Atchison Hospital has canceled or postponed all events through at least May 15. While disappointing in many cases, these measures adhere to those recommended by public health officials. Social distancing and responsible event management help reduce the overall number of infected people, as the United States has learned from other countries with COVID-19 outbreaks. By slowing the spread, everyone is playing a role in protecting resources in place to manage the infection.
We are proud of how our employees and staff have handled the activities for this developing concern with professionalism and grace, taking on additional roles and responsibilities and focusing on providing quality care for all of our patients. We remain in an altered but comfortable state of operations, and will continue to adapt to the changing nature of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
