Some changes at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville were announced Wednesday as officials adjust their operations following the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.
The announcement includes a change regarding the facility's visitation rules, and some updates on the hospital's evolving COVID-19 support facilities.
Regarding new visitation rules, Michael Covert, Chief Operations Officer for Northeast Georgia Health Systems, said Tuesday evening that the hospital will be returning to the restricted visitation requirements originally enacted when COVID-19 cases began to occur in the area.
"For the safety of our patients and our community, all NGHS locations are temporarily returning to restricted visitation beginning Wednesday, July 15," Covert said via email. "All facilities will remain open as usual to provide care for patients, and we are not cancelling any surgeries, procedures or appointments at this time."
Complete visitation details can be found at nghs.com/visiting.
Covert said outdoor emergency mobile medical unit tents have been rebuilt outside the emergency department entrances at both the Gainesville and Braselton locations, and will help the facilities handle a potential influx in COVID-19 patients.
"Our emergency care spaces are occasionally reaching capacity, and we are thankful that our communities are again trusting us with their care," Covert said. "In order to provide emergency care and keep our wait times as short as possible, we are taking advantage of the opportunity to use the tents as an expansion of our existing emergency care space."
An update was also provided regarding installation of the new Mobile Medical Unit, a project that began in May.
Covert said it will be located NGMC's North Patient Tower.
"The new unit has 20 traditional hospital beds – not ICU beds – and will be used to care for patients confirmed to have COVID-19," he explained. "We are finishing some final items in the new space and plan to begin caring for patients in the unit sometime within the next week."
