In light of Michigan’s first presumed cases of COVID-19 and the Governor’s declaration of an official state of emergency, Spectrum Health — including all Spectrum Health Lakeland facilities — has announced new family and visitor restrictions in a bid to help limit the spread of the virus.
Heightened concern regarding limiting the spread of the disease has forced the hospital system to put new measures in place immediately. As a result, to help keep the communities and patients healthy, Spectrum Health will be enforcing the following family and visitor restrictions at all of its hospitals:
- No children under the age of 12 will be allowed to visit Spectrum Health hospitals during this time for their safety.
- Visitors, including family members, will be limited to one person per patient. Two visitors will be allowed for pediatric (children under the age of 18) and maternity patients.
- Visitors and family members must be healthy and without symptoms of illness.
- Visitors and family members who have recently traveled internationally to countries that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention include in their COVID-19 travel warnings will not be permitted to visit.
Spectrum Health continues to offer free virtual COVID-19 screenings to those who have symptoms and may be concerned they have the virus. The purpose is to prevent the spread of illness by enabling people to seek the information they need from their homes, while making it easy and convenient for them. People in the state of Michigan who are experiencing symptoms can call the health system’s hotline 616.391.2380 to be scheduled for a free virtual screening. Anyone with severe or life-threatening symptoms should call 911.
Additionally, Spectrum Health today announced it has posted downloadable materials, travel tips, videos and other information on its website to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Community members, churches, schools, businesses and others are encouraged to visit the link below to access specific recommendations for those groups:
http://www.spectrumhealth.org/covid19
Dr. Darryl Elmouchi, MD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer of Spectrum Health System and President of Spectrum Health Medical Group, says, “The disease is now present in Michigan. We want to help ease fears and provide our community with the information people need to prevent this illness from spreading.”
The materials include information on COVID-19 symptoms, prevention tips from state and federal agencies, a hand-washing video, articles featuring Spectrum Health infectious disease experts and links to action plans and other important information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Lowell Hamel, Chief Operating Officer of Spectrum Health Lakeland says, “The health and safety of our patients and visitors is always our number one priority, even more so when public health situations like this arise,” adding, “Our team members and medical staff are well-informed and have been trained on safe practices to prevent the spread of infection. Additional disease prevention measures are being instituted based on collaboration with the CDC, the Berrien County Health Department, and our own infections disease experts.”
Locally, Spectrum Health Lakeland has implemented healthy visitor restrictions, which encourage community members to stay home when they are sick and wait until they are healthy to visit. The organization is encouraging community members and employees to practice good hand and respiratory hygiene including covering their cough, cleaning frequently touched surfaces often with a sanitizing wipe or cleanser and avoiding close contact with people who are sick. People should also avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth and should stay home from work, school or social gatherings when they are sick.
If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, cough, and/or shortness of breath, officials recommend that you call your health care provider and advise them if you have been in close contact with a person known to have COVID-19 or you have recently traveled from an area with widespread or ongoing community spread of COVID-19.
