Central Maine Healthcare has put in place additional coronavirus infection prevention protocols in light of the outbreak at Russell Park Rehabilitation and Living Center.
“Our top priority is the safety of our patients, staff and the communities we serve,” said CMH Chief Medical Officer John L. Alexander, MD, MHCM, FACEP. “Community spread is driving the increase in COVID-19 cases in Maine and we have adopted additional safeguards to counter that threat.”
Central Maine Medical Center has put in place additional precautions that include:
- strict use of patient masking in rooms when a caregiver is present;
- placing all patients admitted from long-term care facilities experiencing COVID-19 infection on droplet and contact precautions, regardless of their initial testing result; and
- reinforcing strict environmental cleaning and sanitizing of patient care areas.
Those are in addition to the multiple layers of protection already in place at CMH facilities such as screening of all patients, visitors and staff for symptoms; documentation of every person entering in case contact tracing is needed; controlled entry points to prevent unscreened individuals from coming inside; masking and social distancing required at all times inside; and appropriate personal protective equipment required for all patient-facing staff, with monitoring for proper use.
CMH is tracking possible exposures of CMMC team members who have had close contact with Russell Park employees who tested positive for the virus. CMH is quarantining those CMMC team members for 14 days after their exposure and testing CMMC team members who exhibit symptoms.
The CMMC director of infection prevention has been working closely with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.