Monitoring
Carle has taken important steps to keep you and others safe as more people are diagnosed with COVID-19 in Illinois. Community transmission is happening around the state and we should all consider ourselves at risk for being exposed to coronavirus. Everyone should stay home as much as possible and monitor for symptoms – checking yourself daily for fever, cough, shortness of breath or a sore throat.
If you think you may be feeling these symptoms, please do the following before coming to a Carle facility:
- Take a COVID-19 online assessment at carle.org.
- Call our COVID-19 hotline at (217) 902-6100.
Hospital Visitor Policy
To keep our patients and staff safe during this outbreak, we’ve made the difficult decision to limit visitors and support people in our facilities.
We recommend people driving patients to outpatient appointments like Primary Care, Family Medicine and Specialty Services to wait outside the facility. We can also include, by phone, additional family members involved in your plan of care. Outpatient procedures allow for one support person, but they may not go with a patient who’s admitted to an inpatient floor.
During COVID-19, visitors are limited to the following circumstances:
- Patients who are dying very soon can have one immediate family member at their bedside at a time. This person may rotate with another from outside the building. Immediate family includes spouse or partner, parents, siblings and children. For safety of all, grandchildren and in-laws are not permitted.
- Patients requesting last rites will be connected with pastoral care.
- Pediatric patients may have one support person over the age of 18. A total of two support people may rotate outside the building.
- Labor and Delivery patients may have one support person for birth. This person cannot leave the hospital and return, and should be prepared to remain at the bedside during labor, delivery and postpartum.
- NICU patients may have one visit per support person per day during visiting hours of 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. This person must also follow with these guidelines:
- One person can visit at a time, unless there are extenuating circumstances.
- Once the support person leaves, they cannot return unless there are extenuating circumstances.
- The support person cannot sleep in the chair to avoid leaving.
- Temperature will be taken when the support person arrives on the floor. If the person has a high temperature or upper respiratory symptoms, the person will not be allowed into the unit.
- Major trauma patients going to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) may have one support person over the age of 18 (a total of two support people may rotate outside the building).
- Inpatient Rehab patients may have one support person who will receive home-care instructions.
What to Expect at Carle Facilities
When you come to a Carle facility, you may notice a tent outside the entrance. Here, patients are screened for COVID-19 symptoms, including fever or cough. This will help us quickly identify and isolate any potentially infected people and protect others.
Patients coming to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana can enter only at three locations:
- Emergency Department
- Orchard Street Entrance
- South Clinic Cancer Center
Patients coming to Carle Hoopeston Regional Health Center may enter at the Emergency Department Registration
Patients coming to Carle Richland Memorial Hospital in Olney may enter at the Main Entrance until 5 p.m. and at the Emergency Department
As we see this time through together, know that the health and safety of our patients, staff and all those we serve is our number one priority. We’ll continue to provide the most up-to-date information on carle.org, to help you take care of what’s most precious to you.
Charles Dennis, MD
Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer
Matthew C. Kolb, JD, MHA
Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer
