Medical help in the Valley as of Mar.17

St. Francis Memorial Hospital and St. Francis Health Centre have today (March 17) issued guidelines for Valley residents who seek medical care, as follows:

St. Francis Memorial Hospital (SFMH)

SMFH advises that protecting our patients and staff is our first priority.

• Access to the hospital will be limited.  Visitor restrictions are now in place.
• All outpatient clinics and services will be limited to urgent and emergency care.
• Screening at the one main entrance is now in effect.

For a full understanding of your health risks, and the tips to keep you and your family safe, please go to:

https://www.rcdhu.com/novel-coronavirus-covid-19-2/

Or call Renfrew County Public Health at 613-735-8653, ext# 577

Note: SFMH has restricted visitors to immediate family members of palliative patients.

Madawaska Valley Family Health Team | St. Francis Health Centre

Please note that our clinic is doing things differently to help contain the spread of COVID-19 and keep our patients safe. Until further notice, we are no longer booking new appointments for routine or non-urgent visits. This includes visits for routine screening, prescription renewals, test follow-up, or sick notes.

Prescription renewals: If you need a prescription renewal, please ask your pharmacist to extend your current prescription. If this is not possible, ask them to send our office a request by fax.

Sick notes: Note that the government has introduced legislation that means employers cannot ask for a doctor’s note if you have missed work because of the coronavirus (this is backdated to January 25, 2020).

Contacting us: If you need to reach us, we have set up ONE central phone number to call which is 613-756-9888. If you are a patient of one of the physicians or nurse practitioner, this is the number to call until further notice. One of our staff will assist you.

We are offering care via telephone visits:

Our clinic has started offering telephone assessments to make sure that we can continue to care for our patients safely and effectively. This means that we will be using telephone appointments for patient visits rather than asking patients to come into our office. If you have an existing appointment, our office may contact you to arrange for a visit by telephone instead of in-person. If you call to book a new appointment, our office will arrange for a telephone visit.

Please do not come to the clinic. The front doors to the clinic are locked and our waiting rooms are closed until further notice.

 If your health care provider feels you must be seen in-person, you will be given an in-person appointment time. When you arrive, please wait in your car or outside. We will reach you on your cell phone when we are ready to see you. Patients who have in-person visits will be escorted from the front door.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVELLERS RETURNING TO CANADA

• Must self-isolate for 14 days after your
• Monitor your health for fever, cough or difficulty breathing

If you develop a fever, cough or difficulty breathing within 14 days of your return from international travel:

• Continue to isolate yourself from others
• Immediately call Renfrew County and District Health Unit at 613-735-8654 extension 577 or Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000 for further

IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE COVID-19

• If you think you may have COVID-19, please use the Ministry of Health’s self- assessment tool available here: https://www.ontario.ca/page/2019-novel- coronavirus-covid-19-self-assessment and follow the instructions based on your answers to the questions.

Please note that our clinic is not equipped to test for COVID-19.

IF YOU HAVE SEVERE SYMPTOMS

If this is a medical emergency, please call 9-1-1 immediately.

Thank you for your patience and understanding in these difficult times.

Pecarskie,J. St. Francis Memorial Hospital (2020,Mar.17) COVID-19 and St. Francis Memorial Hospital [media release]

Farrar,S. MF Family Health Team (2020,Mar.17) MVFHT Public Messaging March 17, 2020 [media release]

Photo Sharon Gardiner