Hospital Preparedness at West Tennessee Healthcare

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

September 8, 2020

Effective Tuesday, September 8, 2020, Jackson-Madison County General Hospital will adhere to the hours and visitation policies described below:

No Visitors on COVID Unit Except END OF LIFE

END OF LIFE Visits:

• COVID END OF LIFE Visits Limited to Only Two Visitors – All Others May Watch from ZOOM/Face-Time Technology (limited to a 20-minute visit)
• Non-COVID END OF LIFE Visits Limited to Only 6 Visitors – All Others May Watch from ZOOM/Face-Time Technology
• No Visitation Allowed After Death on COVID Floors

Virtual Visits – ZOOM

• Visits are Scheduled Monday – Friday
• Phone Numbers to call to Schedule Visits
  • Gina : 731-693-1312
  • Rhonda: 731-693-1128
  • Jennifer: 731-697-8296

All visitors must be scanned into our system and receive a temporary badge. Any person without an employee badge or a visitor badge will be asked to return to screening locations at Garage 1 Entrance or Revolving Door Entrance. Phone number to each screening station:

• Garage 1 Door Screening Location: 1-9997
• Revolving Door Screening Location: 5-2228

Mask are required by employees and visitors at all times (including in patient room) except while eating/drinking. Social distancing and frequent hand washing will help keep patients, visitors, and employees safe.

August 26, 2020

Q: Why haven’t we moved all COVID-19 patients to North Hospital in Jackson?

A: Our leadership is committed to doing what is best to care for all patients in West Tennessee. While the Emergency Department remains open, North Hospital is not currently set up to care for ICU patients, or equipped with ventilators. It would be too costly for West Tennessee Healthcare to duplicate the resources from Jackson-Madison County General Hospital that would be needed to treat patients at North Hospital.

July 8, 2020

Jackson-Madison County General Hospital is now providing daily updates on COVID-19.

June 25, 2020

New visitation policy for expectant mothers.

May 26, 2020

Patients will have to be tested for COVID-19 before an elective procedure only if you fall into the following categories:

• A resident of a long-term care facility or correctional facility
• Obstetrical and C-section patient
• Cardiothoracic surgery patient
• Sinus surgery patient
• Bronchoscopy patient

May 8, 2020

Due to current circumstances in regards to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), all patients scheduled for surgery will be required to have a Covid-19 screening test four days prior to their surgery date. Offices will have screeners at designated areas, so that it will not be required for patients to exit your cars.

You are required to keep your appointment for testing, or your surgeon will be notified and your procedure postponed. Thank you for helping our facility in keeping everyone safe. West Tennessee Healthcare and our families thank you for your cooperation.

Covid-19 Pre-procedure testing is required for:

• Patients undergoing general anesthesia, aerosolizing procedure, or a procedure on the aerodigestive tract
• Any patients with symptoms, regardless of testing status, should have their procedures further delayed if medically possible
• Patients going through Pre-Admissions Testing

All patients tested for Covid-19 should isolate, as much as possible, between their testing and day of procedure. This may mean some patients will not be able to return to work after you are tested, and until after your procedure.

April 15, 2020

2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Real-Time RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel and 2019-nCoV Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2/2019-nCoV

West Tennessee Healthcare is not billing any patient for COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing. Insurance may be charged.

March 31, 2020

In our continued effort to prevent the spread of illness, effective immediately, West Tennessee Healthcare has halted the delivery of non-essential items being delivered to patients. This includes items such as flowers, fruit baskets, Easter baskets, etc. Family members are allowed to drop off essential items such as toiletries.

March 24, 2020

West Tennessee Healthcare have set up novel coronavirus (COVID-19) testing sites. All patients are asked to call ahead of going to the clinic. Every patient will be screened on the phone, and patients will be given specific instructions to follow. Patients will be instructed to: 

1. Remain home and self monitor OR,
2. Schedule a telemedicine visit OR, 
3. Instructed to come to our designated testing locations for evaluation and testing. 

West Tennessee Medical Group UT Medicine, 31 Physicians Drive, Jackson, (731) 423-1932

West Tennessee Medical Group Prime Care Selmer, 270 E. Court Avenue, Selmer, (731) 645-7932

All patients who present to our clinic locations will be required to wear a mask and clean their hands prior to entering the clinic. Restrooms and sanitizer are available at clinic entrances.

March 19, 2020

In our continued efforts to prevent the spread of illness of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and to protect our patients and healthcare workers, effective immediately, we are prohibiting visitors in our inpatient facilities with limited exceptions.

NO visitors will be permitted to our inpatient facilities. The only exceptions will be:

• One parent or legal guardian of the patient who is a minor.
• Obstetric patients may have one support person to accompany them.
• Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) patients may have two parents who must remain in the room the duration of the visit.
• Patients at end-of-life may have a very limited number of visitors who must remain in the room for the duration of the visit.
• Patients undergoing surgery or procedures may have one visitor before and immediately after the procedure/surgery.
• If a single, approved designated visitor meets an exception, this individual must be determined at the time of hospitalization and may not be changed during hospital stay.

“We continue to evaluate our visitation policies in an abundance of caution to do what is best for all those we care for,” stated James Ross, President and Chief Executive Officer.

To limit the spread of infectious disease, approved visitors will still be asked questions, to understand if they are experiencing any symptoms such as fever, cough or shortness of breath. Visitors exhibiting flu-like symptoms will be prohibited from visiting patients.

We understand that this may be difficult for visitors and patients, but these changes have been implemented to protect the wellbeing of all of our patients, providers and staff, which is our top priority.

We reserve the right to further restrict visitation to our facilities as the situation changes. We are also coordinating our activities with our local health department directors and will follow guidance from them if they direct us to take additional actions that they deem necessary to protect the health of the public.

We will continue to provide updates as we receive them.

March 17,2020

West Tennessee Healthcare is here to help in the fight against COVID-19, also known as the Coronavirus. To assist in preventing the spread of this virus within our communities, we request and encourage you to comply with the following practices before visiting any of our clinic locations.

• Call ahead before coming to alert staff if any of the following are true for you:
  • You are experiencing cough, fever or shortness of breath.
  • You have traveled internationally in the last 30 days.
  • You have been in contact, even if only briefly, with a person who was diagnosed with COVID-19.

• Limit the number of guests accompanying you for the visit to one, unless other arrangements are necessary. All guests will be required to complete COVID-19 verbal screening questions before being allowed to stay with you for your visit.

Also please be aware that anyone working, visiting or seeking care at any of our locations, who are experiencing cough, fever, or sneezing will be required to wear a mask throughout their entire visit to the clinic.

Please know West Tennessee Healthcare is focused on helping keep our patients and communities safe from COVID-19.

If you have questions regarding this message please reach out to any of our clinics or hospitals for additional information.

March 3, 2020

West Tennessee Healthcare has been preparing for the arrival of patients with COVID-19. We are ensuring our staff are trained, equipped and capable of providing care to all our patients.

Our goal is to:

• Prevent the spread of respiratory diseases.
• Promptly identify, isolate, and care for patients with possible COVID-19.
• Regularly update and educate all staff related to COVID-19.

Protecting our Patients and Visitors

• Education for all visitors is posted. All visitors are asked to avoid visitation if they have symptoms of a respiratory infection.
• The system visitation policy will be re-evaluated as the situation progresses, including the possibility of restricting visitation to rooms of patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19.

Protecting Yourself and Your Family

• Wash your hands and use alcohol based hand sanitizer multiple times per day.
• Cover your cough and sneeze.
• Consider restricting travel as this situation develops.
• Stay home if you are sick.

Listen to a special episode of We Talk Health all about Coronavirus (COVID-19). Dr. Lisa Piercey, the TN Commissioner of Health, Dr. Claude Pirtle, and Dr. Mike Revelle and Will Kwasigroh sit down and discuss what we know about the Coronavirus, as of March 10, 2020. We are constantly learning new things about the virus, and we will be updating the public as we learn more information.

Answers to your most common questions about Coronavirus | February 27, 2020

Health System Taking Proactive Measures to Screen Visitors |  March 13, 2020

CEO Issues Memo to Thank Staff During Crisis | March 16, 2020

West Tennessee Healthcare and Health Department Confirm First Case of COVID-19 at JMCGH | March 20, 2020