Today's top tip:

Social distancing and self-isolation doesn't mean you can't be active.

Let's all play the Great Sweetwater Bear Hunt. Take a walk and see if you can spot any teddy bears in the neighbors' windows. Do you count more on the next day's walk? Are there now more than one teddy bear in a window? Did a bear move to a different window? Play the game.

COVID-19 Cases:

Wyoming COVID-19 cases: 73

Sweetwater County COVID-19 cases: 1

MHSC COVID-19 specimen collection to date: As of March 25, 2020

Total swabs: 163

Number of COVID-19 tests: 148 – 1 Positive, 40 Negative

Postive flu: 6

Other viruses such as rhinovirus: 31

Testing is still limited despite our best efforts. Results can be slow as a result of a nationwide backlog.

Important updates

As of Tuesday, March 24, hospital inpatient areas are no longer open to visitors. Exceptions to this include pediatric patients, obstetrics patients and those in end-of-life care. For more information, see Visitation Rules below.

As of Friday, March 20, at 6 p.m. the doors to the hospital's main lobby will be closed. We ask that visitors use the Emergency Room entrance. For visitor restrictions, please scroll down.

DO NOT go to the Emergency Room if you have a temperature of 100 or greater or a cough. Call your provider or Sweetwater Memorial’s Nurse Triage Line at 307-522-8523. Please do not go directly to the hospital or your provider unless you believe symptoms are signs of a serious or life-threatening health issue.

Drive-thru COVID-19 Specimen Collection Site: Open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily at 3000 College Drive. For information, call 307-448-7560. Someone in our Medical Laboratory will explain what is being offered. An order from a provider is required.

Clinic waiting rooms: If you have a fever of 100 or greater, a cough, and/or shortness of breath, please do not enter a clinic, even if you have an appointment. If the appointment is with the Family & Occupation Medicine Clinics at 3000 College Drive, pleas return to your car and call the clinic at 307-212-7708 to discuss your symptoms.

What to do if you are sick with COVID-19, click here. Be aware that all patients not hospitalized who are tested for COVID-19 are required to self isolate in their homes until negative tests are obtained, according to the Wyoming Department of Health.

Restrictions & Protocols now
in effect at Sweetwater Memorial

Visitation rules:

• Hospital inpatient areas are no longer open to visitors. Exceptions to this include pediatric patients, obstetrics patients and those in end-of-life care.
• For those exceptions, the hospital continues to allow only one visitor per adult patient. Visitors for a pediatrics patient must be a parent or guardian. One adult visitor is allowed per obstetrics patient.
• The visitor should be the same visitor for the entire time the patient is in the OB unit or under pediatric care. No visitors younger than 18, unless the visitor younger than 18 is a parent or partner of the patient.
• The Specialty Clinics of Sweetwater Memorial continue to see patients by appointment at their offices at 1200 College Drive and 3000 College Drive. One person is allowed to accompany each patient to an office appointment in the clinics, unless an assistant is required to help the patient to the office.
• Everyone entering the hospital and its clinics will be asked to submit to a quick temperature scan. Any visitor who is coughing, has a temperature of 100 or above, or shows other signs of illness will be given information on how to follow up with your symptoms. Be aware hospital staff may ask any visitor these questions: Have you had a fever or do you feel sick? Have you traveled within the last 14 days? Have you been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19?

General restrictions:

• If you have a temperature of 100 or greater, a cough or shortness of breath, DO NOT go directly to a doctor’s appointment. At Family & Occupational Medicine Clinics (3000 College Drive), you can call 307-212-7708 from home or from your car to discuss your symptoms before entering the building.
• DO NOT go to the Emergency Room if you have a temperature of 100 or greater or a cough. Call your provider or Sweetwater Memorial’s Nurse Triage Line at 307-522-8523. Please do not go directly to the hospital or your provider unless you believe symptoms are signs of a serious or life-threatening health issue.
• Everyone must use alcohol sanitizer before entering and upon leaving any Sweetwater Memorial facility, any patient room, and any exam room.
• If you are sick with COVID-19 and sheltering at home, click here. Be aware that all patients not hospitalized who are tested for COVID-19 are required to self-isolate in their homes until negative tests are obtained, according to the Wyoming Department of Health.
• The Sweetwater Memorial Café is closed to the public until further notice.

In the meantime:

• Practice social distancing
• Stay home if you are sick
• Look for more community updates at @MHSChealthcare on Facebook and sweetwater311.org

Priority patients

As of March 11, 2020, Individuals who will receive priority include:

• Hospitalized patients who have signs and symptoms compatible with COVID-19 in order to inform decisions related to infection control.

• Other symptomatic individuals such as adults 65 and older and individuals with chronic medical conditions and/or an immunocompromised state that may put them at higher risk for poor outcomes (e.g., diabetes, heart disease, receiving immunosuppressive medications, chronic lung disease, chronic kidney disease).

• Any persons including healthcare personnel, who within 14 days of symptom onset had close contact with a suspect or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patient, or who have a history of travel from affected geographic areas within 14 days of their symptom onset.