Officials with Chatham-Kent Health Alliance are reminding people to be proactive as the organization adopts new measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
A press release Sunday afternoon asks that anyone coming to the hospital for scheduled tests, appointments and visits plan ahead.
According to the release, all visitors, patients and members of the public will be screened when entering the main lobby at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) Chatham site and at the Emergency Department entrance at its Wallaceburg Site. These are the designated doors for patients who are arriving for scheduled tests and appointments as well as visitors during CKHA's restricted access measures.
As a result of the screening process, visitors can expect to experience some delays.
"We are asking everyone with a scheduled appointment to please arrive an extra half hour early in addition to the usual 20-30 minute early arrival request for appointments. With our screening measures now in place, we anticipate individuals will have to wait in line for the screening process before proceeding past the main lobby," said Lori Marshall, CKHA president and CEO. "Arriving early will ensure scheduled tests and appointments run on time as usual. This will assist our staff and physicians to keep their work flow on track."
Any visitors who arrive at the emergency department entrance during the day will be instructed by staff to go to the screening point at the main entrance. Patients arriving for scheduled tests and appointments at the emergency room entrance will also be directed to the front entrance for screening.
Meanwhile, emergency patients are asked to only use the emergency department doors and not the front entrance and will be screened appropriately.
The hospital also made some changes to its visitor regulations recently that include that patients designate two visitors for the length of their stay and only allow one visitor in at a time, with some exceptions for certain wards. No visitors under the age of 18 are also permitted for the time being. In addition, visiting hours have been altered to 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily for a majority of patients.