Glacial Ridge Health System has been practicing and preparing for this type of healthcare emergency for years. Not specifically for the COVID-19 pandemic, but for various types of accidents, diseases, or unexpected emergencies. They have systems in place to care for patients who may exhibit signs of the coronavirus, as well as for those who have everyday healthcare concerns.
Kirk Stensrud, CEO of Glacial Ridge; Greg Meyers, Emergency Services Manager; and Jeanette Pasche, RN, Infection Control and Employee Health, are just a few of the staff and healthcare team members on Glacial Ridge’s Hospital Emergency Operations Center (EOC) that started planning for this a few weeks ago. The COVID-19 EOC team has been meeting daily to prepare for COVID-19 in our community. They also talk weekly with public health and law enforcement and remain in constant contact with the Minnesota Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, and local and regional healthcare centers.
Several medical personnel and staff at Glacial Ridge also participated in training drills on a regular basis with the regional and state Emergency Operations Center. As part of the EOC training, GRHS staff practice and prepare—working from a predetermined plan that they must revise on the fly, drawing from their training and experience, according to the unique circumstances each training situation calls for.
“The EOC training is very well-coordinated—everyone in the incident command structure has a role and they all know what to do,” said Stensrud. “During the training, there are several scenarios. To make it even more challenging, the director of the disaster training drill from the state will inject an unknown twist, so we need to develop a new plan for the new situation.”
New Protocols and Processes for Everyone’s Safety
There are many protocols in place at Glacial Ridge to keep community members and healthcare staff safe—some seen, some unseen—while also providing care for those who may need to be screened for COVID-19.
Glacial Ridge has signs at all public entrances to the hospital and three clinics directing people to stop. The sign says if they have a fever, cough, respiratory illness or other respiratory symptom, they are not to enter the clinics or the ER. They are directed to call 320.334.5481 first, to be screened and get further instructions.
The phone number provided is only to be used by patients with those specific symptoms. There are slips of paper with the phone number attached to the signs, so people can take one and make the call from their car or after returning home. After the screening call by a GRHS RN – using current MDH guidelines for testing – the patient is instructed how to proceed for testing at GRHS or whether to self-quarantine at home. Instructions are on our COVID-19 page.
Anticipate ambulance personnel to be wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) when responding to 911 ambulance calls. They wear this on all calls as a precaution to help protect everyone from potential exposure to the coronavirus.
Other Measures taken by Glacial Ridge to maintain a safe and sterile environment at the hospital and clinics are:
- Universal masking and temperature checks for staff and patients.
- New plexiglass shields were installed for the reception desks.
- Closed public coffee and snack counters.
- Separate waiting areas and examination rooms for those who are sick and well.
- Lab and x-ray waiting areas are also separated into sick and well areas.
- Those with potential COVID-19 are cared for and tested in an seperate area by healthcare staff wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).
- A no-visitor policy in the hospital.
“While there are currently no known cases in our county, we are well-stocked with PPE, masks, gowns, eye protection, and face shields to safely care for our community during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Meyers. “Our staff has been doing an amazing job utilizing the personal protective equipment and conserving it as recommended by the CDC guidelines.”
In addition to their existing hand-held, electrostatic, virus-killing equipment, Glacial Ridge had two more loaned to them from the Minnewaska Area School District since schools are closed. Visualize the disinfecting mist bonded to static electricity – it can infiltrate crevices, get in, around, and under, all surfaces easier and quicker than regular disinfectant methods. This is completed daily at the hospital, all three clinics, Glenwood Family Eye Center, and Ridgewood Villa. This generous sharing of resources by the school district has made the logistics of covering these locations much more manageable. Additionally, the electrostatic equipment is used to disinfect Glacial Ridge’s six ambulances and is available for local law enforcement vehicles.
Tele-health Video Clinic Visits Available
Tele-Health video clinic visits allow patients the opportunity to connect with a health care provider from home. Patients can opt to use Tele-Health for any non-complex clinical concern, including COVID-19 concerns. Call Glenwood Medical Center at 320.634.5157, Starbuck Medical Center at 320.239.2200, or Brooten Medical Center at 320.346.2272 to make an appointment for the Tele-Health video visit. A nurse will call you prior to your appointment time. At the scheduled time, you will get an email or text (whichever you selected) from your provider to connect you to the Backline® system. Instructions for patients can be found on the website at glacialridge.org.
PLEASE…Take This Serious
“We want people to take this seriously—stay home, wash your hands well, avoid groups larger than 10, stay six feet away from others if you must go in public places,” said Pasche. “Above all, we need all age groups, even the teenagers and twenty-somethings to take this seriously. Anyone can catch it, but if everyone takes it seriously, lives will be saved. We’re in this together. Let’s do this right.
”To learn more about COVID-19, visit cdc.gov or Glacial Ridge Health System at www.glacialridge.org. If you have possible symptoms of COVID-19 and would like to talk to an RN at GRHS for screening, please call 320.334.5481.
