After the nearly overwhelming pandemic came to our region in the first half of this year, I am thankful that we are in a better place now and can continue serving all the needs of our community members.
We have taken so many steps to ensure that our patients and colleagues are safe. I’m so thankful for everyone who is taking part in this.
The most observable change is that all of our entrances now require us, our patients, and our visitors to be temperature-checked and screened for other COVID-19 symptoms before or upon entering our facilities. Those who screen positive for symptoms then return home with education on how to contact Employee Health for further directions. I can’t stress how important this is. We have to guarantee everyone who steps foot inside our facilities to take care of patients is 100% healthy.
Implementing this new process is a complex endeavor that requires ongoing teamwork among our clinical, security, support, transformation and other teams. Thanks to many people across numerous departments for taking on screening shifts and welcoming our patients and employees to a safe environment. With your feedback, we will continue to fine tune and improve the process.
We are also taking many precautions prior to a patient’s ambulatory appointment to ensure safety for patients and staff. We test all pre-surgical patients for COVID-19 before their procedure and pre-screen ambulatory patients on the phone before they arrive. These are just a few examples of the many proactive actions we are taking.
Our Union Square concierge team has been particularly accommodating by pressing the elevator buttons for our patients. We greatly appreciate this. At Chelsea, the security team has been explaining the screening process to patients with kindness and empathy. In addition, you may have seen the social distancing signage all over our many locations to remind everyone to maintain maximal distancing.
There are many more actions we are taking to ensure safety in our facility. You can read about them on the Mount Sinai Safety Hub, which is updated regularly. You will also find material to help you communicate with patients and colleagues about these topics. I hope you will visit.