Panola Medical issues update…increased coronavirus testing performed today
Published 7:40 pm Thursday, March 19, 2020
The following was released by Panola Medical Center COO Chris Ware about 7:15 p.m. as a recap for the day at the hospital….
Good evening. I wanted to give an update from Panola Medical’s standpoint. We are constantly monitoring the COVID-19 situation. The following is what we have done today.
1. We have tested a total of 15 patients for COVID-19 and sent the swabs to Labcorp in the last 24 hours. We will not have the results for a few days. The positive case in Panola county was not done at our hospital, but at a neighboring county.
2. We have changed our visitation policy to no visitors as of today.
3. We have canceled all elective outpatient surgeries and procedures per the CDC guidelines. We are still doing labs and X-rays with a providers order. All of our clinics are still operating as normal.
4. We now have the ability to have telemedicine, where the patient can call and be seen by a provider over the phone/video.
5. As of tomorrow afternoon, the only entrance/exit will be through the ER, except for employees who will enter through another entrance. We have to keep our healthcare providers as healthy as possible.
We are working tirelessly to provide the best care during this uncharted territory for everyone. If you have questions please feel free to ask.
Thanks,
Chris Ware
PMC -COO
