HRMC Relaxes Facemask Requirements
September 14, 2022
Huron Regional Medical Center is relaxing masking requirements for patients and some staff, according to Erick Larson, president and CEO for HRMC.
“Effective September 15, we will no longer require patients or visitors to wear masks within the hospital or HRMC Physicians Clinic, with some exceptions.” explained Larson.
Facemasks will continue be required for the following individuals:
- those diagnosed with COVID-19 within the past ten days
- those exposed to COVID-19 within the past ten days
- those experiencing symptoms such as shortness of breath, cough, fever, fatigue, chills, dizziness, vomiting, loss of taste or smell, headache or congestion
HRMC staff in direct contact with patients will continue to wear facemasks, with masking encouraged for everyone entering the facilities. Destiny Finn, quality and risk management director for HRMC shared the continued goal to provide quality, friendly care for our patients while maintaining their safety, as well as the safety of our visitors, volunteers, staff and community. “We’re so excited to see your smiles and want you to feel safe while we care for you,” explained Finn. Automated screening stations with questions regarding respiratory symptoms as well as COVID-19 testing and exposure will remain at HRMC entrances, with each patient and visitor being asked to screen.
Larson mentioned that the situation is fluid, “We’re keeping a finger on the real-time pulse of cases in the hospital as well as staff illness to determine if we need to reinstate the facemask requirement.” The threshold for reinstating masking for all staff, patients and visitors includes five or more COVID-19 inpatients or ten or more COVID-19 positive HRMC employees off-work due to the virus. In addition, county infection rates will also be monitored utilizing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Visitors and patients may call the hospital at 605-353-6200 or visit www.huronregional.org/COVID for the latest guidelines.