Gunnison Valley Health Resumes Oupatient Services With Safety as Top Priority

Gunnison Valley Health has created a comprehensive plan to lead the way to safely resume outpatient services at its facilities.

Services that have resumed include Elective Surgeries, Laboratory, Imaging, Rehab and Athletic Medicine, Integrative Therapies, Ophthalmology, Oncology and Cardiopulmonary. In addition to regular hours, the Family Medicine Clinic will also return to offering Saturday hours from 9am to 1pm.

Gunnison Valley Health’s CEO Rob Santilli said the healthcare system has created standardized measures for individuals entering the hospital and clinics, in addition to each department creating their own individualized plan to ensure that patients, family members and staff are protected.

“All individuals who enter the hospital and clinics will sanitize their hands, wear a mask, answer specific screening questions and have their temperature measured,” said Santilli. “Daily infection control monitoring and testing will continue as well as terminal cleaning using UV Lytbot technology of high-touch public surface areas,” he said. “Our team is ready to deliver safe care to all patients.”

Additional safety protocols at Gunnison Valley Health’s hospital and clinics include:

• Redirecting patients to designated entrances for screening.
• All individuals will be asked to wear a mask. Patients may bring their own mask or may opt to wear one supplied by the healthcare system.
• Six-feet social distances have been established in public areas such as waiting rooms.
• Care team members wear surgical masks and other necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) at all times when caring for patients.
• The Family Medicine Clinic has introduced ‘Clean Clinic’ hours allowing patients who do not have flu-like symptoms to schedule their annual wellness visits and regular check-ups.

Santilli confirmed the health system will continue to follow all safety guidelines created by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Gunnison County’s Department of Human Services.

“Our new normal is that we now live with the COVID-19 virus,” said Santilli. “Safety has always been our top priority and we remain committed to deliver high quality, compassionate and personalized healthcare to our community,” he said. “I believe the measures we have implemented take into account all precautions and demonstrate that we are leading the way as the cleanest and safest place in the Valley.”