SVMC Changes Traffic Pattern for Selected Outpatient Services
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SVMC Changes Traffic Pattern for Selected Outpatient Services

BENNINGTON, VT— February 11, 2022—Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC), will require renal dialysis and medical infusion patients arriving for services to use an alternative entrance starting Monday, February 14. Formerly used exclusively for staff, the S1 parking lot and entrance features a flagpole, and is the first right hand turn on Hospital Drive when accessed from Dewey Street. Additionally, several outpatient services will discharge patients at the same alternative location, including Medical-Surgical Units, the Intensive Care Unit, and Women’s and Children’s Services. Medical Records and Billing will also use this location for pick-ups, and patients are asked to use the phone located in the vestibule to coordinate delivery.

Two entry-point ambassadors will be posted to the S1 Lot every 5:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekends to assist patients who are unfamiliar with the entrance. For discharged patients waiting for rides and transportation, there is a large, indoor patient waiting area.  

These changes are part of the health system’s project to renovate and expand the SVMC Emergency Department. The project requires that the current main entrance close to patient traffic at the end of March 2022. A new temporary main entrance will open at this time to accommodate visitors and patients, providing critical access to the emergency department, laboratory, imaging, and public elevators. The S1 entrance is a part of a plan the health system’s engineers and construction management firm devised to use multiple entry points for staff, vendors, and selected outpatient services. The leadership anticipates that multiple entrances will decompress and limit traffic at the temporary main entrance during the 16-month project.

“Patient comfort is every bit as important now, during this major renovation, as it has always been,” said Pamela Duchene, PhD, APRN, SVHC’s chief nursing officer and vice president for Patient Care Services. “Patients and visitors will certainly see the physical changes on our campus, but they will continue to experience the same individualized, exemplary care.”

The Emergency Department Renovation and Expansion will nearly double the size of the current Emergency Department, which was designed to accommodate 14,000 patient visits a year but currently sees nearly 25,000 annually. The project will further enhance patient safety, infection prevention, and patient privacy. Vertical treatment areas will allow for highly efficient treatment of low-acuity conditions. The project also includes an expansion to the Emergency Crisis Area for those experiencing mental health distress and increased telehealth connectivity with Dartmouth-Hitchcock.

Outside the Emergency Department, the project includes renovations of the Main Entrance, outpatient registration area, the Imaging Department waiting area, and the phlebotomy and laboratory upgrades. A new connector will provide improved access to SVMC ExpressCare and the Respiratory Evaluation Center.

Regular updates on the project are available in SVHC’s weekly e-newsletter, on social media, and on the health system’s website, svhealthcare.org/EDRenovation.

About SVHC:
Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) is a comprehensive, preeminent, healthcare system providing exceptional, convenient, and affordable care to the communities of Bennington and Windham Counties of Vermont, eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties of New York, and northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts. SVHC includes Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation, and the SVHC Foundation. SVMC includes 25 primary and specialty care practices.
 
SVMC has earned several prominent distinctions. Most recently, SVMC received the American Hospital Association’s Rural Healthcare Leadership Award for transformational change in efforts toward healthcare reform and its fifth consecutive designation within the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program®. It ranked fourth in the nation for healthcare value by the Lown Institute Hospitals Index in 2020 and is one of Vermont’s Best Places to Work. SVMC earned an ‘A’ for hospital safety from the Leapfrog Group for two years in a row. During the pandemic, SVMC and both its skilled nursing facilities, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation in Bennington, and the Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation at Hoosick Falls, earned perfect scores on a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services evaluation meant to determine the ability to prevent transmission of COVID-19 and other infections.
 
Southwestern Vermont Medical Center provides exceptional care without discriminating on the basis of an individual’s age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. Language assistance services, free of charge, are available at 1-800-367-9559.

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Cautious Entertaining

After almost 3 months of staying home and with the weather getting nicer, many of us are itching to invite friends over and catch up. While this is a natural inclination, it should be approached with significant caution. COVID-19 is still circulating. If you are planning to host, follow these helpful tips for a safe gathering at your home.

Keep the numbers small. Invite as few people as possible. One-on-one meetings are safer than group gatherings. The recommendations from Vermont Governor Phil Scott recommend 25 or fewer. I would still aim for fewer than 10, especially depending on the size of your entertaining space.

Choose invitees carefully. You should know almost everything about the socializing habits of the people you are inviting. Your guests should be as careful in their social interactions as you are in yours. You should also trust that your guests would be cancel if they were feeling ill, as should you if you are suddenly symptomatic. Those at high risk, due to age or a medical condition, should be very careful about hosting or accepting invitations.

Stay outside. Outdoor air movement disperses aerosolized particles more readily than indoor environments. And plenty of space outside allows guests to stay distanced. UV light, like the rays found in sunshine, may also provide some small benefit. It has been shown to decrease the viability of the virus on objects, but it is not yet clear how intense the light must be and for how long the object needs to be exposed in order to kill the virus.

Keep it short. Duration of exposure to others has been identified as a key risk factor. The longer you are near someone shedding the virus, even if they don't have symptoms, the greater your likelihood of catching it yourself. While it is awkward to say that you are inviting people over for a 10-minute chat in the driveway, this is certainly among the lowest-risk types of socializing.

Clean beforehand. If you expect guests to touch anything, the arms of patio chairs, for instance, wipe them down in advance. Ask everyone to sanitize or wash their hands as they arrive, if they touch their face, and about every hour or so.

Stay distanced and masked. People standing tend to drift. Place chairs 6 feet apart so that people will be more likely to stay apart. Unless you are eating, keep your masks on. Share this expectation in advance, so your guests bring their masks with them.

Limit contact points. If you are preparing food, be sure to wash well before cooking and ensure everyone has a portion of his or her own. Forget about platters of vegetables or bowls of chips everyone shares and even buffets, where people share spoons and tongs.

Clean after. Wipe down anything your guests may have touched after they leave.

Keep track. Be sure to take note of who was there, the date of the social event, and each guest's contact details. If any one of the attendees becomes ill with COVID-19 or learns that they may have been exposed at the time of the event, they will be able to reach out directly to the others and to share information readily with contact tracers.

With these tips, you can host a relatively safe get-together and relieve some of the social isolation of the past several weeks. Do know, however, that no party—regardless of how careful—is risk free. Weigh the risks, decrease those you can, and then, try to have fun.

Donna Barron, RN, is the infection preventionist at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.

 

 

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