CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System statement regarding COVID-19

CHRISTUS St. Michael wants to assure the people of this region who trust in us for their health care we are prepared and stand ready to care for our community. The health care community, including CHRISTUS St. Michael, is united in our commitment to responding to the needs of all patients safely and effectively.

We want to be perfectly clear - CHRISTUS St. Michael remains a safe place for all to receive quality care. While COVID-19 is new, our processes and procedures in place for infection prevention and preventing the spread of illness are not. From physicians and nurses, quality and safety experts to those responsible for ordering supplies and keeping the hospital clean — all our Associates are involved in making sure we provide a safe environment for our patients and their families, our Associates and this community we serve.

Due to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and privacy policies and regulations, we do not discuss patients who might decide to seek (or not to seek) treatment at our facilities, including patients under investigation (PUIs), persons under monitoring (PUMs), or individuals who are simply sick, being treated, or tested. Any reporting to the media or the public at large about an identifiable patient, or the disclosure of specific information about treatment of an identifiable patient, such as specific tests, test results or details of a patient’s illness, may not be done without the patient’s written authorization. Any updates on COVID-19 patients or cases will come from the health department.

We continue to follow the CDC’s guidelines for health care facilities, and our providers are working together non-stop and with authorities and our local health care community to prepare and respond when called upon. The CDC guidelines and our efforts are in place to ensure public health and to ensure our hospital is a safe place for all to receive care.

Across CHRISTUS, we will continue our standard process of screening patients at our clinical points of access for relevant travel history, to assess for various evolving infectious disease risks, including this one.

If a patient meets the CDC criteria, and is exhibiting symptoms consistent with the virus, we will isolate the patient in a room and take proper respiratory precautions to safely assess and treat them without risk of transmission to other parts of the facility. We continue to remain vigilant in responding to this evolving situation, meeting daily to ensure we are prepared and continuing to follow CDC’s guidelines for patient isolation and cleaning.

We suggest that everyone follow the CDC guidelines regarding prevention and treatment of respiratory diseases such as COVID-19 and the flu. The best things anyone can do to prevent the spread of illness are:

(1) wash your hands well before eating, drinking or touching your face

(2) get your annual flu shot, and

(3) get a pneumonia shot if you have not already and are above the age of 65 or have diabetes or other illnesses that affect your heart or lungs.

In addition, we advise anyone who may be ill with fever and cough or shortness of breath and have had travel to any region that has known community spread of COVID-19, please contact your primary care provider before visiting their office so they can be sure to provide you with the best care possible while doing everything we can to keep our community healthy.

Please visit christusstmichael.org for or the latest updates and information.