PRESS RELEASE: May 20, 2020
Contact: Lori Evans, Foundation Director
C. 904-476-1138 | O. 850-253-1907
A message from: Madison County Memorial Hospital
Dear Patients, Families, Friends, Volunteers:
We are committed to keeping our residents safe and we need your help. The virus causing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (abbreviated COVID-19) can cause outbreaks in hospitals. Many of our patients are elderly and may have medical conditions putting them at a very high risk of becoming sick, or even severely ill, with COVID-19. Visitors and staff are the most likely sources of introduction of the virus that causes COVID-19 into a facility. To protect our vulnerable patients, we are taking the following aggressive actions to reduce the risk of COVID-19 in our patients and staff:
- Until further notice: We are restricting all visitation.
All visitation is being restricted except for certain compassionate care situations, such as end of life situations. These visitors will first be screened for fever and illness. We know that your presence is important for your loved one but, per guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this is a necessary action to protect their health. Alternative methods of visitation (such as Skype and FaceTime) are available so that you can continue to communicate with your loved ones. Visitors who are permitted to enter the building will be required to social distance (remain 6 feet away from everyone while onsite), frequently clean their hands, limit their visit to a designated area within the building, and wear a facemask. As the situation with COVID-19 is rapidly changing, we will continue to keep you updated.
- We are monitoring staff and patients for symptoms of illness. Staff will be actively monitored for fever and symptoms of COVID-19. Ill employees will be asked to stay home. You will see staff wearing facemasks, eye protection, gown, and gloves in order to prevent germs from spreading and help keep patients safe. Staff will clean their hands frequently. We are assessing patients frequently for fevers and symptoms of COVID-19 in order to quickly identify ill patients and implement additional infection prevention activities. When ill patients are identified, they will be monitored closely, asked to stay in their rooms or wear a mask if required to leave the room.
- We are limiting activities within the facility and cancelling all group activities. We will be helping patients practice social distancing and encouraging frequent hand hygiene.
We encourage you to review the CDC website for information about COVID-19, including its symptoms, how it spreads, and actions you can take to protect your health: https://www.cdc.gov/corona-virus/2019-ncov/index.html.
Thank you very much for everything you are doing to keep our patients and staff safe and healthy. We continue to monitor the situation in our community; we will keep you informed about any new precautions we think are necessary to keep your loved one safe.
Sincerely,
Tammy Stevens
Tammy Stevens, CEO
Madison County Memorial Hospital (MCMH), is located near downtown Madison, Florida and serves a sixty-mile radius of North Florida and South Georgia. With an Emergency Room, Inpatient-Nursing, Swing-bed, Acute Care and Observation as well as Outpatient- diagnostic, physical, occupational and speech therapy, full-service laboratory, Endoscopy services, a Wound Care Clinic, and General Surgery, the goal is to build a collaborative network to ensure a strong and healthy community through innovative health services.
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