by Luc Brown
In response to rising numbers of COVID-19 patients in our hospitals and in our continued efforts to prevent the spread of illness of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), effective Thursday, August 5, West Tennessee Healthcare will be limiting visitors at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital.
The policy will be as follows:
· One visitor per patient per day is allowed.
· Visitors must be age 15 or older.
· One visitor may stay overnight except in ICU.
· COVID-19 patients may NOT have visitors; however, virtual visitation services may be available.
Visitation hours are: Monday – Friday 5am – 8pm and Saturday and Sunday from 7am – 8pm.
“We continue to evaluate our visitation policy frequently to ensure we are doing all we can to protect our patients, visitors, and healthcare team members,” said Deann Thelen, CEO of Jackson-Madison County General Hospital. “Please understand that with our volumes as high as they are currently, we are doing everything we can to communicate frequently and provide the very best care, but it is difficult to communicate as often as we would like. Please be patient with our team as they are working under incredibly stressful circumstances.”
To limit the spread of infectious disease, approved visitors will still be screened, asked questions, to understand if they are experiencing any symptoms such as fever, cough or shortness of breath. Visitors exhibiting flu-like symptoms will be prohibited from visiting patients.
We understand that this may be difficult for visitors and patients, but these changes have been implemented to protect the wellbeing of all of our patients, providers and staff, which is our top priority.
We reserve the right to further restrict visitation to our facilities as the situation changes. We are also coordinating our activities with our local health department directors and will follow guidance from them if they direct us to take additional actions that they deem necessary to protect the health of the public.
We will continue to provide updates as we receive them. Follow us on social media or visit www.wth.org for updates.
About West Tennessee Healthcare:
West Tennessee Healthcare is a public, not-for-profit healthcare system with locations serving 19 counties in West Tennessee and Southeast Missouri. The mission of West Tennessee Healthcare is to improve the health and well-being of the communities we serve while providing exceptional and compassionate care. For more information, visit www.wth.org.