By Denise Kendust, Fort Walton Beach Medical Center and Twin Cities Hospital
Fort Walton Beach Medical Center has well-established protocols in place to care for patients with infectious diseases, and our emergency planning efforts related to COVID-19 are very comprehensive. We are working in partnership with local and state health departments and the CDC, and continue to monitor the situation closely.
Our overall preparedness efforts during the last several weeks have included reinforcing appropriate infection prevention protocols and guidance from the CDC. Earlier this month, we limited entry into our facility so we can screen patients and visitors as they enter in order to help protect everyone in our hospital. This week, we took our proactive measures a step further and implemented a policy that restricts all visitors with limited exceptions. These measures are in the best interest of our colleagues and the patients we serve.
While we have the bed capacity, staffing, and supplies and equipment we need, we continue to plan by accessing the resources, support and best practices across our HCA Healthcare network to help ensure we remain able to meet the needs of the communities we serve as the situation continues to evolve. To ensure we are prepared for an influx of patients, we have extensive and comprehensive surge plans and staffing contingency plans. To help ensure our caregivers and patients continue to have enough supplies and equipment, HCA Healthcare is working to identify other sources of important supplies and equipment to help ensure the continued protection of our colleagues and patients.
Fort Walton Beach Medical Center remains ready to serve all potential and current patients. While COVID-19 is new, our ability to effectively care for those with infectious diseases is not. Our staff and physicians are well trained to respond appropriately to needs of all patients as we do daily in the community. As more cases are announced throughout Florida, this includes properly preparing and caring for those who are potential or positive for COVID-19 when the need arises.
Stay Informed with the Facts: Social media is good and bad and not all information on social media channels is factual. Visit the sites that provide you with the facts (CDC.gov, floridahealth.gov, FWBMC.com, and TCHospital.com). They all provide updates via Facebook too.
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