Candler Hospital

Positive COVID-19 admissions at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Candler Hospital continue to increase. St. Joseph’s/Candler has implemented its surge plan to ensure a...ll patients COVID-19 as well as acute care patients - are cared for safely and effectively. St. Joseph’s/Candler views this as a 12-month deployment, which began March 2020 and will extend through March 2021, and has re-calibrated operations to adjust for the dual environment of treating acute care medical and surgical patients and COVID-positive, infectious disease patients. The current surge plan contains: Four different levels allowing for the admission of up to 115 COVID-positive patients between the two hospitals, in addition to the normal number of acute care beds available for regular patients. Construction will begin this week to create an additional 30 beds in the meeting rooms at St. Joseph’s Hospital and the Marsh Auditorium at Candler Hospital, if needed. Total COVID-19 capacity will increase to 145 beds. In anticipation of increased numbers, including future admissions in the fall due to flu, we are ramping up staffing to include additional contract nurses through March 2021. All areas of PPE supplies, from masks to eye shields, have been inventoried. Purchases have been increased to account for Level 4 surge rates through March 2021. Visitor restrictions remain in place. No visitors are allowed, except for the Telfair BirthPlace and one support person for those in Outpatient Surgery and the Emergency Department. At this time we have the appropriate supply of PPEs and the infection prevention protocols in place to continue surgical services. Since the pandemic began we have learned a great deal about how to protect our co-workers and still provide the needed surgeries those in our community require. The Emergency Departments are open and safely isolating those who are symptomatic for COVID-19 from those who have other emergency needs. We encourage the community to be vigilant about masking, social distancing and other precautions to prevent the further spread of this virus.

Effective Monday, April 6, 2020, St. Joseph’s/Candler will no longer allow visitors in any inpatient unit, outpatient service or physician office building. The...re are a few exceptions: Labor and Delivery, outpatient surgery and the emergency departments will allow one visitor a day, who will be screened. Patients who are minors (Pediatrics and Neonatal ICU) will be allowed one parent to accompany them. All visitors will be screened under those scenarios. Security and a clinical screening team will continue to be stationed in the front lobbies at each public entrance including our medical office buildings on campus, Pooler, Buckwalter and the LCRP. We are also implementing temperature checks on patients for the LCRP locations, Heart and Lung Building and the Professional Office Building (both on the Candler Hospital Campus). This may expand to other entrances at a later date. https://www.sjchs.org/covid-19/visitor-restrictions

A female patient at Candler Hospital has tested positive for COVID-19. What It Means For The Public The patient is isolated and in stable condition at Candler H...ospital and every precaution was taken to protect other patients and our co-workers from transmission of the virus. The patient and their family has been notified. The risk of exposure to the public was and remains low. We have been preparing for the potential spread of the virus since it was first identified and our facilities and co-workers are in a state of readiness to care for the sick and help curb its spread. We are following the latest guidelines from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the Georgia Department of Public Health. St. Joseph’s/Candler does have visitor restrictions in place to combat the spread of COVID-19 and to protect our patients. If you have flu-like symptoms, we ask that you not visit our facilities. Patients will be allowed only one designated visitor a day. This person will need to be an immediate family member or the primary care taker (note: there are no visitors allowed on our skilled nursing units). Visitors will be asked to sign in each day at each hospital lobby and will be issued a visitor pass. Please help us encourage other extended family members to use other means of communication (telephone, FaceTime, Skype, etc.). Visitors who have symptoms consistent with the COVID-19 virus should not enter St. Joseph's Hospital, Candler Hospital or any of our outpatient facilities unless seeking treatment. In that case, please call ahead. Symptoms and criteria include: Fever. Shortness of breath. Cough (lower respiratory illness). International travel or contact with someone who traveled. Children under 18 are not allowed to visit patients in St. Joseph's Hospital and Candler Hospital. No visitors are allowed on the Skilled Nursing Units at each hospital. Check with your loved one's caregiver to see if they are in a Skilled Nursing Unit. Visitors at the Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion will be screened for symptoms and restricted to one family member per person. Only one family member may accompany patients in our outpatient medical offices. If you have symptoms consistent with COVD-19 and a travel history to known areas of transmission, call your doctor or the emergency department prior to arriving at a healthcare facility. Or see a doctor online at smartcare247.com. Prevention Measures Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least twenty seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands. Avoid close contact with people who are sick. Stay home when you are sick. Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash. Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces. If you have recently traveled to areas where there are ongoing outbreaks of COVID-19 and you develop fever with cough and shortness of breath within fourteen days of your travel, or if you have had contact with someone who is suspected to have COVID-19, stay home and call your health care provider or local health department right away. Be sure to call before going to a doctor’s office, emergency room, or urgent care center and tell them about your recent travel and symptoms.

Our top priority at St. Joseph’s/Candler is to protect our patients and co-workers. To that end, we are enforcing visitor restrictions beyond what we have during flu season to combat COVID-19. We are asking our community to take these restrictions seriously and help us contain the spread of this serious disease. - Visitors who have symptoms consistent with the COVID-19 virus should not enter St. Joseph’s Hospital, Candler Hospital or any of our outpatient facilities unless se...eking treatment. In that case, please call ahead. - Symptoms include: * Fever. * Shortness of breath. * Cough (lower respiratory illness). * International travel or contact with someone who travelled. - At this time, only 2 visitors are allowed per patient in St. Joseph’s Hospital and Candler Hospital. Please do not bring extended family to the hospital. - Children under 18 are not allowed to visit patients in St. Joseph’s Hospital and Candler Hospital. - No visitors are allowed on the Skilled Nursing Units at each hospital. Check with your loved one’s caregiver to see if they are in a Skilled Nursing Unit. - Visitors at the Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion will be screened for symptoms and restricted to one family member per person. - Please limit family members accompanying patients to our outpatient medical offices to essential visitors only.

Flu restrictions for visitors have been lifted for all St. Joseph's/Candler campuses.

Due to the rapidly increasing number of flu cases in our area, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Candler Hospital are implementing visitor restrictions to protect patients, visitors and our co-workers. * Do not visit any St. Joseph’s/Candler patient if you have any signs or symptoms of influenza. * Children under the age of 18 are not permitted to visit any patients at St. Joseph’s/Candler. * Those under the age of 18 cannot visit patients at the Telfair Birthplace at Candler Hospita...l unless they are the primary caretaker. * Only children seeking treatment should come to the hospitals. * Children under the age of 18 are not permitted to wait for family in any waiting area. * Patients can only receive two visitors at a time, except the Emergency Department where one visitor is allowed. https://www.sjchs.org/media-center/news-story?news=148