PROVIDENCE – Responding to reports of Rhode Island residents who have tested positive for coronavirus disease, COVID-19, the Providence VA Healthcare System on Tuesday morning set new requirements for veterans and asked any with symptoms of cough, fever or shortness of breath to contact their primary-care provider or phone the patient call center.
In a media release, the Providence VA Medical Center wrote that it “will be screening all patients and visitors entering the facility as of today, March 3, 2020. You will be directed to the main entrance near central check-in, and receive a brief screening and instructions based on your answers to a few clinical questions.”
A rear entrance ramp to the main elevator lobby is now closed, the Medical Center wrote and “the outside entry to the Emergency Department will be exclusively used for ambulances, and the main entrance will now be open 24/7.”
Veterans with flu-like symptoms are asked to “sign-in to My HealtheVet and send a secure message to your primary care provider or call our patient call center at 401-457-3336 and ask for guidance before visiting the VA medical center or a community clinic.”
The center added: “Clinics in separate buildings on the main campus or at Eagle Square and VA community clinics will screen their own patients and visitors, so please follow guidance from staff at these facilities.” Providence System clinics are located in Middletown, New Bedford and Hyannis, Cape Cod.