MUSC limits visits further, tests 60-plus at drive-thru – Lancaster News

MUSC Health-Lancaster tightened visitation restrictions Friday, allowing only one visitor each for children, expectant moms and patients near the end of life. The hospital also closed public access to its Cardiac Rehab unit, The Surgery Center at Edgewater, Therapeutic Services located in Sun City, Lancaster Nursing Center and Rehabilitation Center, and The Dabney Bistro.

Since the hospitals drive-thru testing service started Monday, more than 60 people have been swabbed for COVID-19 at MUSC Health-Lancasters collection site. Ashley Shannon, marketing and community relations director, said some people have driven up to the test site without realizing it is only for those who have been screened by MUSCs Virtual Care video platform and given an appointment for testing. To get screened, go to https://muscvirtualcare.zipnosis.com/login and put in the code COVID19 at checkout prompt if you are experiencing fever, cough and shortness of breath, or if you have had contact with an infected person or traveled to a hot spot for the virus. This is free with the COVID19 code and takes little time. Screening protocols have changed, and now testing does not need DHEC approval as it did a week ago, said Kathy Turner, infection preventionist for MUSC Health-Lancaster. The original CDC guidelines are still in place. Testing no longer has to be processed by DHEC, and MUSC Health sends some collection swabs to an outside lab in Greenville as well as the state lab. Judy Robinson, chief quality officer, said DHEC is allowing other labs to perform testing as a means to ensure that results get to providers quickly. The volume of tests performed in the state would have exceeded the ability for any one lab to get results out quickly, she said. Results still take from 24 hours to a few of days, depending on the volume of testing, said Robinson. Labcorp and a couple of other private companies are also processing tests. The lab that performs the test will give the results to DHEC, which then releases the results based on the county the patient lives in. Everything about this is so fluid, Shannon said. Things are literally changing day-to-day. She said the Lancaster hospital has not yet had any inpatients who have tested positive for the virus, but it is prepared if that is called for. We are very comfortable about the number of negative- pressure rooms we have available, she said. The hospital staff also has enough personal protective equipment such as masks, gloves and eye shields, but it is being diligent about not wasting those items. Our care team members are not being frivolous with the need or the use of supplies, she said. Right now, we have what we need to care for our community. Gov. Henry McMaster has approved the use of medical students at hospitals, but so far MUSC Health-Lancaster does not need the extra staff. Lancaster County is very fortunate in the fact that we only had three confirmed cases, Shannon said. We have not been inundated like Kershaw County, so right now we have the manpower we need at our disposal. April Mathis, regional assistant laboratory director at MUSC Health-Lancaster, said blood donations are badly needed. The Red Cross sent out notice today that they are going on critical shortage next week because the planned donations have all been canceled, Mathis said. So we desperately need people to go to the donate blood.

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MUSC limits visits further, tests 60-plus at drive-thru - Lancaster News