Kadlec hospital stops elective surgery, closes some Tri-Cities clinics due to coronavirus pandemic
Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland has temporarily postponed elective surgeries because of the coronavirus pandemic.
It also has temporarily closed its Tri-Cities express care clinics, replacing walk-in care with care offered via video chat, it announced Wednesday.
Benton and Franklin counties had their first case of COVID-19 confirmed this week — a woman in her 20s in Franklin County — and more cases are expected. Wednesday the health district said that a woman in her 80s in Richland had died from coronavirus.
Kadlec is stopping all inpatient and outpatient surgeries for non-life threatening and non-urgent care at its main hospital in Richland and its Tri-Cities Regional Surgery Center and Kadlec Ambulatory Surgery Center.
“With COVID-19 circulating in our community, Kadlec is taking steps to ensure the safety of our patients and our facilities in order to care for as many COVID-19 patients as possible,” Kadlec said in a statement on Wednesday.
The halt to elective surgery preserves capacity to meet the acute health care needs of other patients and to respond to COFID-19 care and prevention, it said.
Patients who have already scheduled surgery are being contacted for rescheduling of their surgery.
Express care closure
Kadlec express care clinics in Kennewick, Richland and Pasco are being closed, including express care clinics at the Pasco and Richland Walgreens. Urgent care clinics will remain open.
The clinic doctors and other health care providers will instead provide virtual express care service.
“This action will help us effectively respond to the health care needs of patients while allowing them to stay at home, mitigating potential exposure to or spread of COVID-19,” Kadlec said in a statement.
ExpressCare Virtual at virtual.providence.org connects patients with health care providers through a video chat on their smartphone, tablet or computer for conditions such as fever, rashes, sore throats, stomach flu and pink eye.
Callers will need a photo ID and may also need to have a thermometer and flashlight at hand.
Kadlec also has an online questionnaire — the Coronavirus Assessment Tool — to determine whether symptoms could mean you have coronavirus at bit.ly/COVIDassess.
Kadlec already has banned most visitors to its hospital and is not allowing people to accompany patients at its Freestanding Emergency Department in Kennewick, its urgent care or other clinics that remain open, the Kadlec Healthplex, Kadlec Outpatient Imaging Center, and Tri-Cities Regional Surgery Center and Kadlec Ambulatory Surgery Center.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 11:50 AM.