The rehab building at Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan has reopened after eight staff members tested positive for COVID-19 last month.
Lisa Landry, human resources director at the hospital, said in an email on Wednesday that the rehab unit recently reopened, and like many other services, is open on a reduced basis, providing telehealth services and in-person acute needs.
“All rehab staff members have recovered,” Landry said. “We were able to identify other staff and patients who were in direct contact and were subsequently quarantined.”
To date, Landry said that no patients have been treated for COVID-19 at their hospital. Redington-Fairview has sent out 283 tests, one of which is still pending. Of the 282 that have been returned, 267 are negative and 15 positive. Two of the positives were on the same patient and most of the positives were the staff members in the rehab unit.
The hospital is not able to provide social contact tracing as it is done by the Maine Center for Disease Control.
The rehab unit reopened on April 27.
Landry said that staff who exhibit any symptoms of COVID-19 are being tested. After the initial report on the rehab unit, Landry said that three other staff members in the building tested positive and one nonrehab staff member acquired the virus from her spouse. Seven other rehab staff tested negative.
“Any other staff who were tested were negative for COVID,” Landry said. “We are not aware that any patients tested positive who may have been in contact with the rehab staff.”
The rehab unit consists of 42 staff members. The building is separate from the rest of the hospital, located across the street from the main campus.
The hospital, located at 46 Fairview Ave., has an outdoor triage and testing area just outside of the Emergency Room entrance. The medical office building entrance is set up for employees and any medical office patients to be screened for COVID-19 symptoms, use hand sanitizer and be masked prior to entering the building.
The hospital has been following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to reduce the risk of staff exposure. Staff at the hospital have been reduced through remote work, reserve shifts and temporary furloughs.
Administrative staff from the business office, technology coding, finance and human resources and clerical staff are working remotely.
Reserve shifts are being offered temporarily to clinical departments that are experiencing low numbers of patients. This means that a rotation of staff may stay home during a regularly scheduled shift if census is low. While at home, employees are “on reserve” to come in if the hospital volume increases.
“Our No. 1 goal remains to protect our patients and our staff in all settings. The plan will continually be reviewed and adjusted as necessary,” CEO Dick Willett previously told the Morning Sentinel.
Redington-Fairview General Hospital is an independent, critical access hospital and is not associated with other health systems in the state.
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