JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Hospitals around Northeast Florida are taking action against the potential threat of coronavirus, or COFID-19, as Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry says he’s working closely with emergency operations teams.
The viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 14,550 people globally. In Florida, officials reported a third person testing positive for a strain of coronavirus.
Curry said there have been ongoing meetings since last week with teams preparing for a potential coronavirus case in the area.
“Like we do any time we face any kind of a threat, we’ll move quickly,” Curry said. “The most important thing is we need to identify any possible carrier, and we are in communication with the Department of Health and federal partners. They will make that identification.”
Baptist Health
A statement from Baptist Health said its following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Florida Hepartment of Health. A spokesperson said it’s taking steps, including:
- "Ensuring all isolation rooms at hospitals across the Baptist Health system, including within our satellite Emergency Departments, are prepared to receive patients who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19. These negative-pressure rooms are specially designed so that airborne pathogens remain fully isolated. Baptist Health has isolation rooms system-wide.
- "Securing a ready supply of personal protective equipment for clinical team members, including gowns, gloves, respirator masks and eye protection.
- "Coordinating frequent check-in meetings with a multi-disciplinary task force and providing system-wide updates with the latest information from the CDC and FDOH.
- "Placing signs at key entrances to advise patients to immediately place a mask on their faces if they are experiencing fever or respiratory illness. Masks can be found at infection prevention stations located throughout all campuses.
- “Encouraging patients, visitors and team members to wash their hands frequently and use the alcohol-based foam hand sanitizer available throughout all campuses.”
Memorial Hospital/Orange Park Medical Center
HCA, the parent company for Memorial Hospital and Orange Park Medical Center, announced Wednesday that the hospitals would be limiting public entrances into their facilities to help protect patients, guests and caregivers.
Entrances will be limited to only the ER and Main Entrance of the hospitals, and the Medical Office Building at Memorial Hospital.
When visitors or patients arrive on campus, they should use those entrances, where greeters will screen them with questions to help ensure that individuals who might spread the virus get the care they need while not exposing patients, staff and other guests.
“These measures are simply additional steps put into place to help ensure we keep our patients, visitors and community safe,” said Lisa Valentine, CEO at Orange Park Medical Center. “We are grateful that we’ve not seen impact locally of this new coronavirus, COVID-19.”
HCA said anyone with the following symptoms should not visit the hospitals:
- Have a fever
- Have a cough or shortness of breath and have traveled outside the US in the past 14 days
- Have had direct contact with someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19
“Our goal is to take every precaution to keep our patients, our caregivers and our community safe by avoiding any spread of this virus should it come into our community,” said Memorial Hospital CEO Bradley S. Talbert.
Dr. Steven Goodfriend, the emergency room medical director at Orange Park Medical Center, said staff members have trained for events like this many times before.
“We have a good process in place. We’ve drilled this many times, and we have a good screening,” Goodfriend said. “Any testing that’s done, it’s done through the CDC and the Department of health. So if they screen positive, with initial screening questionnaire, we assume they have the illness and isolate them.”
Orange Park Medical Center has a hotline to call: 1-800-889-3627.
Memorial Hospital has a phone line set up for people to call if they believe they have symptoms or questions they need answered. The number to call is: 1-800-530-3244.
St. Vincent’s Healthcare
A spokesperson for Ascension St. Vincent’s released a statement reading in part:
"Based on current recommendations and guidelines, we have in place proper infection control precautions and protocols to protect patients, associates and visitors. Caregivers are trained in these protocols to ensure we’re providing patients with personalized care by understanding and addressing their health needs upon entering our sites of care...
“If you believe you have had contact with someone who is confirmed to have, or is being evaluated for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), please contact your physician.”
UF Health
Last Friday, News4Jax spent some time at UF Health. Physician Chad Nielsen showed the isolation room, where the hospital would hold suspected coronavirus patients. He said in the room, the air that’s breathed in is constantly scrubbed, then eleminated.
“What happens in our negative air room is that, instead of the air being recycled into the hospital, it’s pushed into here and actually gets exhausted out of the hospital through filters,” Neilsen said. “It doesn’t gets exhausted outside the hospital.”
The isolation room is designed to treat only a few patients, but Neilsen said UF Health has the capability of turning other rooms and even wings into isolation areas, if necessary. He said physicians are trained to handle various infectious diseases, while making sure the physicians and staff members aren’t exposed to a virus themselves.