Shortly after the announcement was made that Buncombe County had it's first residential case of COVID-19 Coronavirus, Mission hospital suspended all visitation.
Full statement from the NCA facility below
ASHEVILLE – March 21, 2020 As always Mission Health is working continually to help ensure we remain a safe place to work and provide care.
To protect our patients and staff, at 7 p.m. tonight Mission Health will be elevating our visitor restrictions to Level 3, and will no longer allow visitors to any facilities until further notice. The exception will be for our pediatric patients, who will be allowed to have one adult visitor with them at a time.
The health and safety of our patients and team members is our top priority and we are taking this very seriously. We know this may be difficult and wish the situation were different, but we are taking every precaution to protect those in our care.
We have well established protocols in place to care for patients with infectious diseases, and we are following CDC guidelines related to COVID-19 cases, including isolating the patients and taking steps to ensure the safety of our patients, employees and visitors.
To further protect our patients and colleagues, we will also be reducing the number of entrances for Mission Hospital. The new entrances will be:
· Entrance 1: Emergency Department – open 24/7 to patients (ONLY PUBLIC ENTRANCE)
· Entrance 9: Labor and Delivery – accessible 24/7, for expecting mothers only.
These updates are meant to keep our colleagues, patients and visitors healthy and reduce the possibility of exposure to the virus. Access and visitor restrictions are in place at all Mission Health locations, regional hospitals and CarePartners. We want to ensure that we remain a continual resource for the communities we serve and are committed to delivering the most effective care with the best possible results.
For information, visit Missionhealth.org/covid-19
As a reminder to protect yourself and prevent the spread of illnesses:
· Avoid close contact with people who are sick
· Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
· Stay home when you are ill
· Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue
· Practice good hand hygiene by washing your hands often, using either soap and water or alcohol-based hand gel for at least 20 seconds
· Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces