In our continuing efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses such as influenza that are more prevalent during the winter months, a new Respiratory Clinic opened this week at York Hospital. Located adjacent to the Hospital’s Emergency Department on the main campus in York, this new treatment area provides another option for isolating patients arriving at the hospital with less severe COVID-19 symptoms.
Employees have been re-allocated from the temporarily closed Kittery and Berwick Walk-Ins to ensure that we have dedicated, full-time ER/Walk-In providers and nursing staff available to assess and care for an increase in patients arriving at York Hospital with COVID-like symptoms. Patients may need, among other treatments, IV fluids or nausea medication, and the Respiratory Clinic provides the space to treat them more efficiently and in isolation.
The difficulties that went hand in hand with triaging possible COVID-19 patients in tents at the outset of the pandemic—including cloth walls with no insulation, lack of temperature control and inability to manage airflow—were the impetus for outfitting what was formerly an ambulance bay as the new Respiratory Clinic.
“In addition to the climate control, real walls and floors, and negative pressure flow—amenities not present in the tents many hospitals used at the onset of the pandemic—the bay is directly connected to the ER. Therefore, should a patient arrive whose condition is more critical than anticipated, we can seamlessly move them into an ER treatment room, allowing for further assessment by the ER team,” said Medical Director of Emergency Services Dr. Jessica Stevens.
The Respiratory Clinic is also the designated location for infusion therapies, as we continue to advance our COVID-19 treatment capabilities for patients who are confirmed COVID-positive and meet very specific criteria. The space is currently equipped with three beds and one infusion chair for those advanced treatment infusion therapies, and has further expansion options should patient volumes increase.
York Hospital continues to focus on providing a safe place for patients to come for all their healthcare needs. For more information and resources about COVID-19, please visit https://www.yorkhospital.com/covid-19-updates/. For additional information, please contact Community Relations at (207) 351-2385 or [email protected].