Area hospitals adding restrictions to protect from coronavirus

Columbus Regional Health and Schneck Medical Center are announcing new restrictions to protect their patients, public and staff from the coronavirus and the associated COVID-19 illness.

Effective Friday, Columbus Regional Hospital will be restricting public entrances at the 17th Street hospital campus. Those visiting the facility will be actively screened for the virus. If you are trying to visit the hospital, you are asked to enter either through the emergency department, which is entrance 1 off of 17th Street, or through entrance 2, which is off of 18th Street.

Effective Friday at Schneck Medical Center, every visitor and patient will be screened before entering the main hospital building. You should consider arriving early for any scheduled appointments.  The hospital main entrance will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. Schneck Professional Building will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. The emergency department will remain open around the clock.

Schneck will be expanding current visitor restrictions, limiting visitors to two per patient.  Visitors must be 18 years old and older and anyone with fever and/or chills, sore throat, muscle aches, runny or stuffy nose, cough, fatigue, headache, and vomiting and/or diarrhea is asked to refrain from visiting patients.

All visitors must wash their hands (soap and water) or use alcohol-based hand sanitizer before and after visiting a patient. Hand sanitizer can be found throughout the hospital as well as outside each patient’s room.

Schneck is also announcing that all support groups, seminars, and programs hosted at Schneck Medical Center are cancelled through March 31. In addition, the Live Well Expo scheduled for Saturday, April 4 has been postponed until further notice.

If you experience a fever with a cough or shortness of breath and have traveled to an area with an ongoing spread of COVID-19 or have had contact with someone suspected of having COVID-19 and suspect you may have COVID-19, you should contract the Indiana State Department of Health at 317-233-7125 (317-233-1325 after hours).

Simultaneously monitor your symptoms and seek medical attention if your condition worsens, especially if you have shortness of breath or difficulty breathing. Call ahead before visiting the doctor or a hospital so they can adequately prepare for your arrival.  Tell them you may or may not have COVID-19.

For more local resources and information on the coronavirus and COVID-19, you can go to bartholomew.in.gov/emergency-management#covid-19