MURRAY, Utah, Feb. 28, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A patient infected with the novel coronavirus is set to undergo treatment in the state of Utah.
The Intermountain Medical Center announced the development in a posting on social media early Friday evening.
According to Dr. Mark Briesacher, chief physician executive at Intermountain Healthcare, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked Intermountain Healthcare to take care of a patient who contracted the novel coronavirus outside of the state of Utah.
“So, they are coming here. We’ll take care of the patient at Intermountain Medical Center in a unit that’s specially designed to take care of these kind of issues.
“There are not many units like this across the country. At Intermountain Medical Center, we have a self-contained care unit that’s staffed by highly trained nurses and physicians to care for people who have infectious diseases like COVID-19.”
Briesacher said the actual unit is in a building separate from the IMC hospital complex, designed to minimize the risk of exposure to other patients and staff.
“It’s a whole separate building, has separate ventilations, all those things that you might think about,” he said.
“It’s a real testament to our infectious disease experts here at Intermountain and the forethought and planning that went into the creation of Intermountain Medical Center some years ago.”
When asked to explain the potential risk posed to Utah’s population by bringing the patient here, Briesacher was emphatic.
“For this patient, there is no public health threat. We will keep this patient safe. We will keep our caregivers safe, using all the appropriate caregiver equipment, and we will keep the community safe.”
There was no mention of where the patient is from, or how and when they may have been infected.
Gephardt Daily will update the story as more information in made available.
https://www.facebook.com/Intermountain/videos/189176249011199/
