NC hospitals prepare for coronavirus
WakeMed officials said Wednesday that its emergency operations center is already up and running in preparation for a potential coronavirus outbreak.
Barb Bisset, preparedness director for the hospital system, said WakeMed has been dealing with a respiratory outbreak – the seasonal flu – for weeks, so it's ready to handle cases of COVID-19, the illness associated with the new coronavirus.
Children under 12 and people who have symptoms of a cold or the flu haven't been allowed in patient care areas at WakeMed facilities since early January to combat the flu. Bisset said the system doesn't plan further restrictions at this point, but officials are asking visitors to think about whether they actually need to see a patient in person or whether they could call or message instead.
"There’s times when visitors need to be here at the hospital, but there’s other times when it may not be a necessary visit. So, we’re asking people to be very thoughtful of that," she said.
WakeMed is also encouraging people to use its online virtual appointment option instead of going to the hospital if they’re not experiencing emergency symptoms like shortness of breath or high fever.
"If you are feeling ill, but you’re not feeling seriously ill and you just want to talk to a physician, there is a telemedicine option where you can be in your home and you can talk to a physician who can provide the guidance to come," she said. "That actually can take care of many, many patients that way."
The online appointment option is cheaper than an in-person visit, and WakeMed is discounting the price to encourage people to use it. Bisset said it can help cut down crowds in waiting rooms, which would limit the virus' spread.
All community education classes, support groups and other public events at WakeMed hospitals have been suspended until further notice, and the WakeMed Foundation’s annual Appreciation Gala, one of the largest nonprofit events in Wake County, has been postponed. A new date for the event hasn't been set.
At Fort Bragg, Womack Army Medical Center officials laid out their measures to handle any potential COVID-19 outbreak.
Doctors and nurses said Wednesday morning that they're ready for COVID-19 if any soldier or family members test positive for the virus.
The hospital a zero-pressure isolation room in the emergency department that would be used to safely treat patients. Womack officials said they are able to treat as many as 100 isolation patients, and that number could be expanded, if necessary.
The major concern right now is for soldiers returning from deployments to places like Kuwait and Afghanistan, hospital staff said. Those soldiers have the potential to stop off in high-risk countries before returning to the United States.
"For each flight that's coming back, we are assessing if it did stop somewhere such as Germany or Kuwait, because flights coming back often stop there on their way back to the United states," Col. Martin Doperak, Fort Bragg command surgeon, said.
In addition to soldiers being screened, regular patients at Womack who use the hospital or its emergency department are screened for a number of potential illnesses. The screening includes questions to assess their risk of having been exposed to the coronavirus.
Womack could be testing Fort Bragg, Pope Army Airfield, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and Camp Lejeune patients with suspected exposure to the new virus, officials said.
