Aug

28

Elective Specialty Clinics Paused at Elizabethtown Community Hospital

Elizabethtown, NY – Elective specialty clinics at the University of Vermont Health Network - Elizabethtown Community Hospital’s main campus will be postponed for two weeks. The temporary pause in services is an added precaution to protect patients and staff by limiting traffic in the hospital.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we are postponing four specialty clinics to minimize any potential risk of exposure to COVID-19,” said Elizabethtown Community Hospital Medical Director of Emergency Medicine and Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Clauss.

According to Clauss, the outpatient clinic visits can safely be delayed without an immediate threat to the health of patients. Patients impacted by the decision will be contacted by their specialist’s office to reschedule their appointments.

Elizabethtown Community Hospital is taking steps to protect patients and staff, including:

  • All employees arriving for work are screened with health questions and a temperature check.
  • All arriving patients are screened at the front desk. Patients with symptoms or suspected exposure to a COVID-positive case are masked and treated in dedicated rooms.
  • Strictly following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and New York State Department of Health guidelines on personal protective equipment. All employees are required to wear masks, including the front desk staff that perform patient screening upon arrival.
  • Enhanced cleaning protocols, including frequent sanitization of high-touch surfaces.
  • Staggering and/or limiting outpatient appointments to decrease traffic in the hospital and health centers.

For updates and resources on COVID-19, please visit ECH.org.

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About Elizabethtown Community Hospital

The University of Vermont Health Network - Elizabethtown Community Hospital is a designated critical access hospital and the primary health care provider serving the 39,000 people who live, work and vacation in Essex County, NY and the surrounding region.

Elizabethtown Community Hospital is transforming rural health care at its main campus in Elizabethtown, NY, at a new emergency department and outpatient center at the former Moses Ludington Hospital in Ticonderoga, NY, and at six community-based primary health care centers located throughout the region.  The hospital is one of the community’s largest employers with 360 employees.

Across the Elizabethtown and Ticonderoga campuses, the hospital maintains two 24-hour emergency rooms, a 25-bed inpatient unit, physical therapy, laboratory, and digital radiology departments, and a variety of specialty physician clinics on a weekly and monthly basis.  

Elizabethtown Community Hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission and is licensed and certified by the New York State Department of Health and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

About The University of Vermont Health Network
The University of Vermont Health Network is an academic health system that is comprised of six affiliate hospitals, a multi-specialty medical group, and a home health agency. We serve the residents of Vermont and northern New York with a shared mission: working together, we improve people’s lives.  Our partners include:

Our 4,000 health care professionals are driven to provide high quality, cost-efficient care as close to home as possible. Strengthened by our academic connection to the University of Vermont, each of our hospitals remains committed to its local community by providing compassionate, personal care shaped by the latest medical advances and delivered by highly skilled experts.

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