Columbus Regional Hospital announced some additional staffing changes Tuesday, designed to prepare for the need to redirect staff to areas of need in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The hospital will cancel or postpone non-urgent radiology screenings, including routine, non-urgent lung screenings and mammograms done at Columbus Diagnostic Imaging, 790 Creekview Drive, and Columbus Regional Health’s Breast Health Center, 2326 18th St., said hospital spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue.
Officials at the two facilities, where the bulk of these procedures are done, will be contacting patients who had already scheduled appointments, DeClue said.
CRH canceled all elective, non-urgent surgeries and procedures as of Monday, due to directives from the state and federal government about the coronavirus pandemic.
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These measures are to meet the health needs of potential COVID-19 patients, protect against exposure and potential spread, and to ensure that medical resources are readily available.
So far, Bartholomew County has had one confirmed case of COVID-19, a patient in the hospital who has been listed in stable condition.
“We have been reallocating our staff members, especially since our triage line is taking a lot of calls,” DeClue said.
Launched by CRH this past Thursday, a phone line, called the COVID-19 Triage Resource Call Center, handles calls from residents with questions and concerns about exposure or symptoms associated with COVID-19, CRH officials said.
In just five days, the line has already received 445 calls, DeClue said.
The new round of announcements by CRH come as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases continued to increase across the United States and in Indiana on Tuesday. No new cases have been reported in Bartholomew County since Monday.
The Indiana State Department of Health reported six new cases of COVID-19 in Indiana on Tuesday, including the second death linked to the virus in Johnson County, raising the statewide total number of cases to 30 and the death toll to two Hoosiers.
The second death was a Johnson County adult over 60 years of age who had been hospitalized, state health officials said in a statement. No further information about the patient will be released due to privacy laws, according to the statement.
The first death, which was announced Monday, was a Marion County adult more than 60 years old who had undisclosed underlying medical conditions, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
“I think the deaths confirm what we already have said. This virus can be deadly, especially in the vulnerable population,” said Dr. Brian Niedbalski, Bartholomew County Health Director and CRH physician. “The public will need to be diligent about social distancing and continue to follow proper hygiene recommendations.”
The new cases reported Tuesday include two cases in Lake County, two in Marion County and two in Franklin County.
As of Tuesday, cases have been reported in 15 of Indiana’s 92 counties, including Adams, Bartholomew, Boone, Floyd, Franklin, Hamilton, Hendricks, Howard, Johnson, Lake, LaPorte, Marion, Noble, St. Joseph and Wells counties.
Nine cases have been reported in Marion County, the most of any county in the state.
At least 5,700 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the United States, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, which tracks and maps all confirmed cases of the illness around the world.
New York had the most confirmed cases of any state in the country, with at least 1,300, as of Tuesday afternoon. Washington state had 904 cases and California had 589.
More than 190,000 cases have been reported globally, including at least 7,500 deaths.
CRH officials are urging local residents to practice social distancing, and to be prepared and cautious.
The federal Centers for Disease Control issued new recommendations on Sunday, advising against gatherings of more than 50 people over the next eight weeks, according to The Associated Press. The previous recommendation was to limit gatherings of more than 250 people.
The White House is advising people to avoid social gatherings of more than 10 people, according to guidelines issued Monday.
“I think 250 or 50 was an arbitrary number,” Niedbalski said. “Ten should make us look at how seriously the federal government is looking at this virus. We should understand that public gathering must be limited at this time.”
Anyone with concerns is urged to call the health system’s Triage Resource Call Center, a phone resource line launched by CRH last week to handle calls from residents with questions and concerns about exposure or symptoms associated with COVID-19, CRH officials said.
The phone resource line can be contacted at 812-379-4449.
The phone line is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and is staffed by registered nurses who will offer screening questions and potentially recommend a course of action for patients, DeClue said.
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Local residents with concerns are urged to call the health system’s Triage Resource Call Center, a phone resource line launched by CRH last week to handle calls from residents with questions and concerns about exposure or symptoms associated with COVID-19, CRH officials said.
The phone resource line can be contacted at 812-379-4449 and is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and is staffed by registered nurses who will offer screening questions and potentially recommend a course of action for patients.
Visit crh.org/news/2020/03/16/coronavirus-update-what-you-need-to-know for more information.
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Federal officials are scrambling to broaden testing for the coronavirus after one of the government’s top health officials called the initial testing effort “a failing” and health care professionals, politicians and patients across the country complained about lack of access to testing, according to The Associated Press.
CRH officials acknowledged on Monday that there is a “shortage of testing supplies” and said relatively healthy people with a low fever and cough and are not that sick would likely be advised to stay at home and not seek medical attention.
However, people with symptoms such as shortness of breath or risk factors such as being older than 60 and/or having a compromised immune system should seek medical care and let their physician decide if a test will help direct their care.
Anyone with concerns are urged to call the health system’s Triage Resource Call Center, a phone resource line launched by CRH last week to handle calls from residents with questions and concerns about exposure or symptoms associated with COVID-19.
The phone line is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and is staffed by registered nurses who will offer screening questions and potentially recommend a course of action for patients, said CRH spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue.
The phone resource line can be contacted at 812-379-4449.
Visit crh.org/news/2020/03/16/coronavirus-update-what-you-need-to-know for more information.
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At this time, the most effective way to protect yourself and your loves ones is to practice the following:
Social distancing (avoid large public gatherings).
Proper hand hygiene – washing your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and using alcohol-based sanitizer as a secondary option.
Covering cough.
Not going in public if you are ill, especially if you have a fever.
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