Beginning Monday, Mercy will open a new “forward triage” facility just outside the emergency room at Mercy Hospital.
The opening will be preceded by a blessing.
Details below are from Mercy Springfield Communities.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (March 22, 2020) – The Most Reverend Edward M. Rice, Bishop of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese, will bless a “forward triage” facility at Mercy Hospital Springfield on Monday, March 23 at 9:30 a.m. The event will be very small and will not be open to the public, as we all practice social distancing.
The new triage facility will be located just outside the hospital’s north emergency room entrance. It will open after the blessing and be used to quickly provide help and masks for those who think they may have COVID-19.
Adding this extra level of care protects patients who are visiting the ER for unrelated issues. A Mercy co-worker will perform an initial triage to quickly assess the reason for a patient’s visit. If COVID-19 is suspected, the patient will be isolated from the rest of the patients and treated in that space. If the potential COVID-19 patients are seriously ill, they will be routed through a separate entrance to minimize exposure to the waiting room and other patients.
