Fresno-area hospitals set up emergency tents, limit patient visiting amid coronavirus
Hospitals in the central San Joaquin Valley are rolling out emergency tents and limiting patient visits as the response to the novel coronavirus widens across the country.
Hospital officials say the hospital tent extensions are meant to keep patients with possible COVID-19 at a safe distance from others. Testing for the coronavirus is becoming increasingly common at hospitals, although wait times are expected in places where there is high demand.
Kaweah Delta Medical Center in Visalia has operated hospital tents since Friday, and plans to install a larger tent near the emergency department. The tents are used by appointment, hospital spokeswoman Laura Florez-McCusker said in a statement.
During a visit, medical staff collects specimens through nasal swabs from people who have been recommended to get checked by the Tulare County Public Health office or who think they should be checked. People are asked to not walk up to the tents. Instead, they should call ahead and speak with a physician or with the county health department to schedule an appointment.
Calling ahead is helpful for hospital staff, says St. Agnes Medical Center spokeswoman Kelley Sanchez.
She said that allows a swab test to be ready once the patient arrives. But only those patients with severe symptoms are encouraged to seek a test, as they are limited. St. Agnes also plans to erect a medical tent in the coming days to handle the patient load. Some entrances have closed to the hospital and people are funneled through a small number of areas.
Community Regional Medical Center in downtown Fresno has also installed climate-controlled tents to house patients outside the hospital. They are located near the emergency entrance. Mary Lisa Russell, spokeswoman for CRMC, said Monday the tents will be used for patients who meet criteria for testing and who show signs of the coronavirus.
She said Clovis Community Hospital also has a trailer that it can use if needed.
County health officials say all precaution measures should be followed by the public.
Fresno was declared in a state of emergency Monday by City Hall after a second patient tested positive for the virus in recent days; Dozens of others await results. Tulare County has also recorded two positive cases of the virus, and the patients there were recovering at home. Others are self monitoring.
Limiting contact
Hospitals are also adding rules on who can visit patients.
Sanchez said St. Agnes is limiting patient rooms to medical staff or one visitor at a time. The hospital continues to follow guidelines by the CDC.
“Every day it seems like things change,” Sanchez said.
Patients and visitors across hospitals are being asked if they have symptoms of the virus before they are allowed into medical facilities. They are also asked if there has been contact with someone with COVID-19 or if they have traveled to areas of risk.
Hospitals like Kaweah Delta and Sierra View Medical Center in Porterville are not allowing children to visit patients during the added enforcement. Patients at those hospitals are also limited to one visitor at a time.
The Veterans Health Administration hospital in Fresno, which also set up tents for added screening and service, is also restricting child visits.
Adventist Health in the Central Valley put in similar restrictions across its hospitals in Selma, Reedley, Tulare and Hanford. The network of hospitals also operates a coronavirus information and advice hotline (844-542-8840) that is monitored by registered nurses.
Federal health experts have also implemented a widespread recommendation of “social distancing.” That’s meant to encourage people to limit large group interaction. On Monday, groups larger than 10 were not recommended in order to limit the spread of the virus as much as possible.
Much of the focus has also been on limiting contact between young people and people over the age of 60. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said older people and those with underlying conditions are at most risk for getting the virus.
As a result, many workplaces and educational institutions locally have put in place work-from-home and suspension plans.
This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 5:52 PM.
