Your Health Your Safety
Protecting Your Health, Enhancing Your Safety
As America begins to contemplate what life will be like in the near future, and move toward reopening, Hammond-Henry would like to share with you what measures we have in place to ensure your safety and optimize your healthcare. Your safety, and the safety of our hospital and clinic staff, remain at the forefront of our attention and daily operations.
Steps Taken to Ensure Your Safety and Health are Maintained
- Patients with COVID-19 – Patients suspected of COVID-19 are treated as if they are positive. Full PPE is used by staff and the number of individuals entering the room is minimized to nurse and physician. If testing cannot be done in the patient room, precautions are taken during transport and after testing in the room in which the patient was in. Rooms within the hospital have been designated for suspected and confirmed COVID-19 positive patients to reduce the risk of spread to other patients.
- Employee Testing – Employees with symptoms of COVID-19 and/or possible exposure to COVID-19 individuals are tested to ensure we are quickly identifying and isolating those individuals. We want to ensure staff feel as safe as possible in going home to their families.
- Masks are recommended if you have symptoms of COVID-19.
- Expanded Frequency of Cleaning – Departments caring for patients have been advised on proper cleaning methods for COVID-19 as well as terminal cleaning processes. Environmental Services has ensured products used and processes followed to minimize the risk of cross-contamination & additional shifts have been added to assist in cleaning common areas and high touch surfaces such as door handles and phones.
- Hand Sanitizing – Hand Sanitizer is available at many points of contact for use. Hand Hygiene is the number one way to minimize the spread of infectious diseases.
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – Hammond-Henry has been fortunate to have enough PPE to protect our staff caring for suspected and confirmed patients past and present and are prepared should we see an influx of patients in the future. Training and programs have been rolled out to ensure proper use of the available PPE.
- Foodservice Enhancements - The cafeteria has implemented numerous measures in order to provide patients and staff with safe meals.
- Safety Alterations - Numerous other alterations have been made throughout the facility, such as plexiglass at the registration desk, a curtain divider placed between registration lines to protect individuals, and the removal of reading material from all offices and waiting areas.
- Following Other Safety Recommendations – Mandates and recommendations from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are reviewed regularly to ensure compliance with the most current information.