AdventHealth Friday issued the following advisory, which applies to AdventHealth Palm Coast and all system hospitals:
AdventHealth has a responsibility to protect the greater community from the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19). As a trusted community partner, it’s vital we take measures to minimize the risk of infection for patients and protect our physicians and team members who are on the frontlines. Our measures are for the protection of everyone, including potential visitors.
Today, AdventHealth announces modifications to its visitor policy and elective procedures in Central Florida.
“These are untried times and it’s important that we take measures that protect our patients, physicians and team members, and greater community,” said Dr. Neil Finkler, Chief Medical Officer for Acute Care Services at AdventHealth. “We do not take these decisions lightly, but view them as necessary. We thank our community in advance for their understanding and patience as we address COVID-19 together.”
We strongly encourage patients and their loved ones to remain closely connected through virtual tools, including Skype, FaceTime and the telephone.
Visitor Policy Changes
After much discussion with clinical leaders and physicians, AdventHealth will update its visitation policy. Effective Monday, March 23, no visitors for socialization purposes will be allowed inside AdventHealth hospitals in Central Florida.
Visitation will be continued for special circumstances, such as if the visitor is the power-of-attorney or medical decision-maker. Visitation will also be permitted in end-of-life situations. Other exceptions and additional guidelines include:
- Patients under the age of 18 may be accompanied by one adult visitor (parent, legally authorized person or caregiver). No additional visitors or siblings allowed.
- Obstetric patients can have one adult visitor.
- Exceptions will be made for extenuating circumstances such as imminent end-of-life or unique patient needs for support.
- In all circumstances, visitors who are sick will not be permitted to enter the hospital, unless they are seeking personal medical care.
AdventHealth recognizes the impact this visitation policy will have on patients and their loved ones, and thanks the community for their support in this measure. We will constantly evaluate the need for this policy and will modify it when we believe it is safe for visitors to return.
Elective Procedures & Surgeries:
AdventHealth is committed to being a dependable resource for our community for medical emergencies. As we anticipate the increased need for hospital beds, resources, and advocate for patient and team member safety, AdventHealth will limit the surgical care of patients to those whose needs are imminently life threatening, with malignancy that could progress or with active symptoms that require urgent care.
As a result, by Monday, March 23, AdventHealth will:
- Postpone all non-time sensitive inpatient surgeries.
- Postpone all non-time sensitive outpatient surgeries.
- Postpone all non-time sensitive outpatient procedures in diagnostic centers.
Patient safety, safety of the entire health care team and the ability to care for our community remain the tenets of this and all decisions. We will continuously evaluate these limitations to ensure all are safeguarded.
On Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order that prohibits hospitals and other health care facilities from providing any non-essential, non-urgent or non-emergency procedures or surgeries, including for dental procedures.
Don says
I got a DAMN broken tooth, where can I find a dentist to extract it now ?
Carol says
This should have been in effect already, never mind worrying about beach closures.
Concerned in C says
Thank you for the explanations. Besides transparency, I do have one major concern: What is being done to protect your employees? Being in a facility where a confirmed case of COVID-19 resides, and seeing the majority of staff wearing no protection is disconcerting. Being in the ER for several hours and not seeing one employee with an N-95 or better face mask is distressing – not as much for me as a patient – but far worse for your employees. Being told that they may need bandanas or scarves because of the shortage is even worse.
What is Advent Health doing about protective gear for their employees??
Well... says
And yet according to this site, Flagler still has zero cases.
https://fdoh.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/8d0de33f260d444c852a615dc7837c86
But this map tells an interesting story:
https://healthweather.us/
Trixie FL says
My mother ( in her 80’s) is a patient at Advent Health Palm Coast. This morning all visitors were forced to walk through the emergency room to visit a patient, the other entrances were closed. Why are healthy people forced to”run the gauntlet” through the emergency room which is presumably occupied by sick people waiting to be seen ? Why should I have to risk exposure to coronavirus or other contagious diseases just to visit my family member?
Name (required) says
Good.
palmcoaster says
Given the one case that was not disclosed for well over a week because is a “Volusia resident” I think hospitals suspecting Coved-19 new arriving patients from other counties should direct those patient to their own county hospitals nearby…in order to keep the pandemic more controlled. How come we are supposed to stay home, order that our family, friends and neighbors are positively abiding for, but our hospital that was COVED-19 free, allowed our virus free facilityto check in a person resident from Volusia? The quarantine order should also include hospitals. This one patient had triggered a whole Corona V expensive system and worst risk to all hospital patients that were free from it till then and could have been avoided by interning her in a Volusia hospital instead as are “located nearby”. Please do not kill the messenger because anyway now is too late…but a quarantine order for hospital that do not host Coved-19 patients yet should also be in place to further restrict the pandemic to avoid unnecessary contamination.
deb says
Its every hospital in the country following this procedure or very simlar. You go up to a desk and they ask you , have you experienced any cough, sore throat in so many days. I have NO problem doing this. Also, say you were infected, but didn’t know it, why go walking around through all open hospital doors spreading this,. One entrance one point to control.,