COVID-19 Update – Latest News from SLMHC

Mar 19, 2020

Entrances and Screening

As recently announced, we now have screening in place for everyone entering our facilities.

The Emergency entrance, where our screening station is located, is the only entrance to the hospital at this time. All other entrances to the hospital will be locked until further notice, including the corridor to the Hostel.
If you are staying at the Hostel and require help getting to the Emergency entrance, please make arrangements through the hostel staff.

Visitor/Escort Restrictions and Cafeteria Closure

At both the hospital and extended care sites, we now have a NO Visitor/Escort restriction in place.

There are exceptions to allow one (1) pre-identified essential visitor/escort for patients in labour, pediatric patients and a patient at end-of-life, providing that the visitor/escort clears screening.
This decision was not made lightly, and we apologize for any inconvenience. Our first priority is the lives and health of our patients, their families, our staff, physicians and our communities during this pandemic. We thank everyone for their patience and cooperation.
Our cafeteria is closed to the public at this time.
- We have taken steps to ensure our food vending machine in the Emergency department is well-stocked for those patients coming through for medical care.

Communication with Patients

With visitor/escort restrictions in place, we know this is difficult on families, residents and patients when you cannot see your loved one. We would like to help to minimize the anxiety for both families and their loved ones by supporting a virtual face to face visit through video.
- Please reach out at the following numbers and our staff will be pleased to assist you.
  - William B. George Extended Care site (807) 737-3030 ext. 4575
  - Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre site – email slmhcconnect@slmhc.on.ca. State your name, phone number, desired time for a video-visitation and patient you wish to connect with. Someone will get back to you within two-business days.

Parking

We have lifted the parking gates at both of our sites. We feel this will help reduce the spread of germs which comes from touching the parking kiosk and paying for parking passes.

Next Steps

We continue to work with our partners locally, regionally, provincially and nationally to ensure we are providing you with the most up-to-date information.
We are working with the Ministry of Health, the Northwestern Health Unit and Ontario Health North to develop a COVID-19 assessment site on the SLMHC health campus, and will keep the public updated as this develops.

As a reminder:

Stay home if you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and;
- Call Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000 or the Northwestern Health Unit at 1-800-830-5978 for further direction.
- Seek medical care if required. Disclose symptoms and any recent travel history.

Further updates will continue to be provided as they become available.