To say the past few months have been challenging would be an understatement. In these months, the coronavirus has impacted our community and our nation. No facet of daily life has gone untouched; our work, schools, places of worship, recreation and more have been affected by the pandemic and the effort to keep our community safe.
At Carroll Hospital, we took the unprecedented step of closing our campus to visitors. We asked our volunteers to stay home. We encouraged our non-clinical staff members to work remotely. We moved our special events and health and wellness programs online. We worked around the clock with LifeBridge Health to ensure that our clinical staff had (and continues to have) the personal protective equipment (PPE) to safely care for our patients.
And now, slowly and deliberately, we have begun to reopen our campus. Hospital leaders have created a reopening strategy that focuses on preparing our buildings and our employees, creating social distancing throughout the facility, reducing touch points and increasing the frequency of cleaning. Every person who walks through our doors must answer screening questions, have their temperature taken and wear a mask.
We resumed elective surgeries and, in late June, we allowed visitors back to our hospital on a limited basis. We also welcomed our dedicated volunteers back to work in non-clinical areas.
These challenging times have brought out the best in our community. On behalf of the hospital community, thank you for your support of our staff through your heartfelt words and your donations of PPE, meals and supplies to our Care Bravely Compassion Fund.
As a newcomer to Carroll Hospital and Carroll County, I have been blown away by the generosity, strength and caring that I’ve witnessed from this community.
No matter the health crisis, Carroll Hospital is open to care for you and your family. Our facility is following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to ensure our patients, their families and our staff are safe. COVID or non-COVID, we are here to care for you.
And, if you are in need of routine medical care, Carroll Hospital’s affiliated multi-specialty practice Carroll Health Group has taken similar precautions in their offices in addition to offering telemedicine options.
Please do not wait to seek medical attention, especially if you are having a health emergency. It could have deadly consequences.
Garrett Hoover is the president and chief operating officer at Carroll Hospital.
