Wright Memorial Hospital Chief Executive Officer Steve Schieber says hospital employees are working together as a team and are well prepared to deal with COVID-19.
Protections are in place at the hospital at Trenton for patients, employees, and the community. He notes Wright Memorial has an adequate supply of personal protective equipment for its employees and patients and is not wasting it.
A screening process has been put in place to determine if someone needs to be tested for the Coronavirus. Schieber explains persons are asked to call first to confirm if they are symptomatic and may have been exposed. He says the process ensures persons are not being needlessly tested.
Tests are administered for those who are determined to need them, and those individuals can be isolated at home unless they need acute care. There is currently a two-day turnaround on test results, and Schieber says no tests from Wright Memorial have come back positive. He does not know exactly how many tests have been administered at the hospital, but he says it is “not a dramatic number.”
Schieber says an off-facility site, or alternate care site, is in the process of being set up where testing could be done. He anticipates rolling out additional testing opportunities to keep individuals more isolated. A triage location is also in the works, so anyone with COVID-19 could be segregated immediately from others in the Emergency Department.
Wright Memorial Hospital is working with other Saint Luke’s Health System hospitals and participating in daily Saint Luke’s systemwide calls addressing COVID-19 to make sure they are using best practices and optimizing staffing. Schieber notes the hospital has also collaborated with the Grundy County Health Department, nursing homes, and community.
