With COVID-19 numbers consistently waning, along with the need to close areas of our 4/5 building for facilities to implement the necessary air handler updates, the Safety Team has approved the recommendation to close the dedicated COVID-19 unit. This decision is in line with information from the CDC as well as other Trinity Health hospitals.
Going forward, patients will be placed in beds according to the service under which they are being admitted. If they also have COVID-19, they should be managed by implementing contact / droplet protocols just as we currently do for other contact / droplet communicable diseases. When AGP is necessary, airborne isolation precautions will be added and the patient will be placed in an appropriate negative pressure room as available. If no negative pressure room is available, the patient will be placed in a private room with the doors closed until the appropriate number of air exchanges has occurred.
The number of health care providers present during the procedure should be limited to only those essential for patient care and procedure support. Visitors should not be present for the procedure.
For questions related to this change, please contact the Infectious Disease office at 315.448.6253, the Infection Control office at 315.448.6252, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Philip Falcone at 315.744.1040 or Director of Quality & Performance Resources, Stephanie Johnson at 315.744.1263.