Springfield hospitals are implementing new restrictions to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Mercy Springfield will expand visitor restrictions beginning at 8 a.m. Sunday, March 15, according to a news release from the health system. Facilities affected include:
- Mercy Hospital Springfield
- Mercy Kids Children’s Hospital
- Mercy Heart Hospital Springfield
- Mercy Orthopedic Hospital Springfield
- Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital Springfield
- Mercy Hospital Aurora
- Mercy Hospital Cassville
- Mercy Hospital Lebanon
- Mercy St. Francis Hospital (Mountain View, Missouri)
Patients can have one visitor per day. Exceptions may be made for those who are near end-of-life.
Only parents will be allowed in the neonatal intensive care unit, and in-person prenatal classes are canceled.
Unless they are seeking treatment, no one under age 18 will be allowed in Mercy hospitals or clinics.
At Mercy Hospital Springfield, all visitors should use the main south entrance. Patients can still access valet parking at the Heart Hospital (west) entrance.
All patients coming to the emergency room (ER) in Springfield should continue to follow the signs and use the north entrance of the hospital.
Laboring mothers in Springfield should continue to come in the Mercy Kids entrance, as should patients coming to our St. Jude affiliate clinic. This will separate our pediatric cancer patients, who have weakened immune systems, from the general visitor population.
Mercy is also making adjustments in its ER to place those with COVID-19 symptoms in a separate waiting and treatment area.
Mercy asks anyone with mild COVID-19 symptoms, including a fever, dry cough and shortness of breath, to access a virtual “e-visit” through MyMercy (www.mymercy.net).
If you have more severe symptoms and suspect you may have the virus, you’re asked to call 417-820-2115 on your way to the ER at Mercy Hospital Springfield.
CoxHealth has also changed its visitor rules. Only one visitor is allowed per patient per day. No visitors will be allowed to visit patients with suspected COVID-19. No one under the age of 18, with the exception of those seeking medical care will be allowed entrance into CoxHealth facilities. That includes both hospitals and clinics. In a news release from CoxHealth, officials said further restrictions may include limited access to only certain entrances and conducting fever checks at hospital entrances.
