News 12 March 2020

MercyOne tightens restrictions at New Hampton hospital

MercyOne New Hampton Medical has tightened visitor restrictions at the hospital because of the high number of influenza cases it has seen and concerns about coronavirus.
The hospital made the announcement on Thursday afternoon, a day after MercyOne made a system-wide decision to not hold any external events that would have 20 or more people either at the hospital or in the community. And the tighter restrictions came just two days after MercyOne announced it had implemented “Level II” restrictions because of the influenza outbreak.
The safety of our patients, communities and colleagues is our primary focus during this time of heightened COVID-19 awareness,” MercyOne announced in a statement released Thursday afternoon. “We are working closely with the CDC, the Iowa Department of Public Health as well as Chickasaw County Public Health to prepare, prevent and, if needed, care for anyone impacted by this disease. “
The restrictions include:
* Please do not visit patients at the hospital. * If you must visit, there are only two visitors per patient allowed. No visitors under 14 years of age. We need to keep people out of common areas of the hospital, including waiting rooms. * Visitors are asked to call the patient before you arrive and make sure they are not exceeding two visitors.
MercyOne New Hampton Development and Public Relations Manager Jennifer Monteith said Thursday afternoon that no cases of coronavirus have been reported in the county.
As of 2:30 Thursday, the Iowa Department of Public Health said that here are 14 confirmed cases of coronavirus, 13 of which are in Johnson County and the other is in Pottawattamie County. A total of 67 Iowans have tested negative for the virus, and 24 tests are still pending.

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