Salinas Valley Health COVID 19 Update

Media Contact: Karina Rusk
831-759-1843

Latest Information

To date, Salinas Valley Health (Salinas Valley Health) has sent 101 potential cases to the Monterey County Health Department for testing. As of 9am, Tuesday, March 24, we have received 10 positive results, two of which required hospitalization.

This is an update of four positive results since report-out Saturday. Of the 101 cases submitted, 10 are positive, 70 are negative and 21 results are pending.

Salinas Valley Health Timeline

• 03-23-20 Salinas Valley Health Implements a no visitor policy to protect patients and staff and help slow the spread of the pandemic in the community. The policy does allow for exceptions including women in labor and delivery, pediatric patients, end of life care and other case-by-case exceptions.
• 03-20-20 Salinas Valley Health activates a free bilingual hotline for community members to call and get answers to their COVID 19 questions. Nurses man the hotline 7 days a week during the hours of 7am-11pm. The number is 831-755-0793.
• 03-20-20 Clinical personnel begin offering a limited drive-up screening/assessment option and should be used for patients referred by their physician or referred by our hotline nurses. This service is intended for people who are exhibiting COVID 19 symptoms and who have possibly been exposed to someone tested positive for COVID 19 or have recently traveled to a restricted country.
• 03-18-20 Salinas Valley Health announces new policies for patients and visitors. A nurse screens everyone entering the hospital using verbal questions and visual assessment of symptoms. Patient visitation is limited to one person per day (must be 16 or older), with exceptions allowing for two visitors for OB patients and exceptions considered for critically ill and end of life patients.
• 03-16-20 Salinas Valley Health began operating an alternative care site near the Emergency Room. The alternative care site is being used in conjunction with a triage tent to screen people with respiratory ailments to help stop the spread of COVID 19 and prevent other patients from potentially being exposed to the virus.
• 03-12-20 A triage tent outside the ER entrance is used to screen people with respiratory illnesses to determine if they meet criteria for COVID 19 testing. The screening is based on medical assessment of symptoms, severity of symptoms and factors such as travel and age.
• 02-10-20 Salinas Valley Health activates what’s known as HICS– ourHospital Incident Command System. It sets into motion a predetermined organizational command chart with people acting in various capacities and outlining roles and responsibilities. It ensures operations in any disaster or emergency situation are effective and efficient.

Early Proactive Response

Local health care leaders began monitoring developments in Wuhan, China when the virus was first reported in late December 2019. The Monterey County Health Department and all four area hospitals (Salinas Valley Health, Montage Health, Natividad and Mee Memorial) began conversations and coordination in January 2020 about proactive and precautionary measures should the virus spread. Representatives from each of those organizations are in daily contact, collaborating best policies to protect the health of the community and keeping the public informed about the status of COVID 19 cases in Monterey County.

For additional information, please visit svmh.com/coronavirus