April 8, 2020

Hospital is ready when the COVID-19 virus hits

Hospital is ready when the COVID-19 virus hits

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

As Michael Curtis, McKenzie County Healthcare Systems, Inc. chief operating officer, has watched the impact of the COVID-19 virus on healthcare systems in New York City over the past two weeks, he’s glad that so far North Dakota and McKenzie County have not seen a major outbreak.
“We’ve been able to use the last two weeks to really get ready for an outbreak in the county,” states Curtis. “We’ve seen what has happened in New York City. We’ve been given a two-week window to prepare so that the same thing doesn’t happen here.”
As of last week, McKenzie County only had three confirmed COVID-19 cases. But Curtis questions whether or not those individuals who tested positive actually are living in the county.
“We don’t know where those individuals were tested,” states Curtis. “What we do know is that they weren’t tested with us or at the ANOVA Family Health Center. And those are the only two COVID-19 test sites in McKenzie County.”
Curtis says that ANOVA is the primary test site in the county, while the healthcare system does perform the test after hours or when people present at the McKenzie County Clinic or at the emergency room who require medical attention.
“The big question that we have is how many people have the virus but aren’t experiencing any of the symptoms,” states Curtis.
In preparation for the potential outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in the county, Curtis says that the healthcare system has been working tirelessly to put into place a safety program.

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