NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — On Thursday, Sentara announced updates on resuming elective procedures, new screening requirements before entering the building, and recent COVID-19 data.
With that, Sentara Healthcare said in a statement that the facility is prepared to safely resume certain elective and non-urgent surgeries on Friday.
“Patients awaiting information about their delayed surgery or procedure will be contacted by their physician or site of care to discuss rescheduling,” according to healthcare officials. “Patients who are scheduled and approved for surgeries or procedures must meet specific requirements, including passing standard COVID-19 screenings. Patients may be required to undergo testing for COVID-19 prior to their surgery or procedure.”
Sentara is still encouraging patients to use telehealth and virtual care options as much as possible for appointments and non-urgent issues to continue social distancing efforts.
Updated guidance from Sentara also says that all patients, visitors, and employees will be screened for signs of COVID-19 before entering the buildings. Patients and visitors are encouraged to wear a mask inside the buildings.
The screening is to notify staff of signs such as coughing, shortness of breath, sore throat, gastrointestinal distress now (or in the past week), and a fever of 100.0°F or higher.
The healthcare facility said:
- If a person seeking care screens positive with a fever and/or symptoms of COVID-19, they will be directed to a dedicated respiratory unit for further treatment.
- If a visitor screens positive with a fever and/or symptoms of COVID-19, they will be asked to go home and self-quarantine until their symptoms improve, or they may seek further care.
- If an employee screens positive with a fever and/or symptoms of COVID-19, the employee will be asked to return home and will be given further instructions for care.
Sentara also provided some statistics from the Sentara COVID-19 Task Force which has been monitoring and responding to the pandemic for the past three months.
As of April 29:
- The Sentara COVID-19 Call Center, launched on March 16, has answered more than 9,800 calls from patients and the community.
- More than 360 Sentara specialists and primary care providers have been rapidly trained to deploy to hospitals and assist with COVID-19 treatment if needed.
- More than 80,000 telehealth and virtual visits have been conducted between Sentara providers and patients.
- More than 144,000 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) have been donated by local businesses, organizations, and community members.
- Sentara Healthcare is participating in 2 COVID-19 clinical trials with several more under review.
- Sentara’s in-house testing laboratory has completed more than 10,000 COVID-19 tests for patients and community members across Virginia and northeast North Carolina since March 25.
- Sentara and Trust committed $1 million to the We Care COVID-19 Virginia Emergency Food Support Plan, a part of the Federation of Virginia Foodbanks.
- The team launched www.SentaraHeroes.com to encourage the community to post positive messages of support for our staff. In the first few days, the site had more than 1,800 visits.
“Sentara continues to care for all patients who enter our facilities and seek care virtually from our expert care teams. We continue to ask our community to help stop the spread of this virus by practicing excellent hand hygiene, remaining at home as much as possible, and following social distancing guidelines if you must be in public areas,” said Sentara officials.
The full statement and more information can be found online.
