ASHLAND — Healthcare in Ashland County has changed dramatically in the past two months, as the University Hospitals (UH) Samaritan Medical Center adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic and readied for a potential surge.
The local hospital — like many others across the state and country — implemented extra precautions, closed two urgent cares to conserve PPE and postponed elective surgeries.
As the state of Ohio reopens throughout May, leadership at the UH Samaritan Medical Center says the Ashland hospital continues to take proactive measures to protect its staff, patients and the community.
“We remain prepared, vigilant and ready to act on any cluster that appears in the Samaritan or Ashland community,” said Chief Medical Officer at UH Samaritan Hospital Medical Center Dr. Tim Kasprzak.
He spoke alongside UH Samaritan Medical Center president Todd Harford, manager of communications & development Kathy Witmer and chief nursing officer Lisa Bushong at a Friday press conference in the hospital’s incident command center, updating the community on the state of the hospital.
Elective procedures resumed May 1, and urgent cares that closed in April will reopen May 11. The UH New London Urgent Care and UH Kettering Health Center in Loudonville both reopen Monday.
“What I would like to say is, thank you. You have stayed at home and cared for us. Now, it is time for us to get back to caring for you,” Hartford said.
Dr. Kasprzak said Ashland is fortunate. Only 14 positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported by the Ashland County Health Department as of Friday afternoon.
“We have not had a true surge here, as seen in other parts of the country,” Kasprzak said.
Despite only a few cases, the hospital’s leadership has met at least once per day for two months in its incident command center and connected with the UH system regularly, too.
These daily meetings are expected to continue into the foreseeable future.
Limits on visitation remain, said chief nursing officer, Bushong. Staff has worked to connect families with technology.
Likewise, technology has been used to offer telemedicine. Bushong and other leaders encouraged patients that it is safe to visit heath care providers in-person, but telemedicine remains an option for those who’d prefer to speak remotely with providers.
“If you are ready to see us, we’re ready to care for you. We are prepared. We feel you are very safe to come back and be a part of our community,” Harford said.
Separate pathways were established earlier and remain in place for COVID-19 patients and non-COVID-19 patients at the emergency department and for in-patient services.
Anyone who enters the UH Samaritan Medical Center will have their temperature taken and be screened at the door. Inside, waiting rooms are set up to promote physical distancing.
“We do not want non-COVID patients to be worried they’ll be coming in contact with COVID patients,” Kasprzak said. “We have completely segregated pathways in our emergency department and in our in-patient areas so we keep these two populations separate, and we can care for them appropriately.”
