Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information and Resources for Community Members

Columbus Community Hospital is actively working with our agency partners like the East-Central District Health Department (ECDHD) to prepare for, prevent and control the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in our area.

Updated news articles related to Covid-19 can be found on our Covid-19 Resources page of the website.

For a guidance of the definitions used during COVID-19, click here for a flyer from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Adjusting Patient and Visitor Policies

As the COVID-19 situation develops, we are constantly working to create new procedures to protect our employees, patients and visitors.

Columbus Community Hospital (CCH) is now offering many programs and services that were put on hold due to COVID-19. Elective surgeries and screenings are now available, and all of the hospital's clinics are once again seeing patients.

As it reopens services, CCH will continue to maintain the following COVID-19 safety precautions:

Everyone who visits the hospital will be given a mask and be required to wear it
All CCH staff members will wear a mask as part of the hospital's universal mask policy
Increased cleaning and disinfection will be done throughout the hospital
Social distancing will be reinforced in all waiting areas
Patients and visitors will be prescreened for COVID-19

Though CCH will maintain the above safety precautions, it is adjusting some other COVID-19 policies, including its visitor restrictions. Starting July 6th:

One healthy support person is allowed per patient, but this has to be the same support person throughout the duration of the patient's stay. Please note that minor children are not considered "support persons" for adults seeking elective medical care.
Clergy members may visit patients in the hospital. Please note that this updated policy only applies to official clergy members and not all representatives from a church.
All visitors are encouraged to bring their own masks.

All patients and visitors who enter CCH or one of its clinics will continue to be asked the following questions to screen them for COVID-19:

Have you traveled internationally within the last 14 days?
Have you had close contact (six feet for 10 minutes or more) with a confirmed case or person under investigation for COVID-19 within the last 14 days?
Have you tested positive for COVID-19 or are pending results for COVID-19 testing?
Do you currently have a fever (>100.0F), chills, cough, sore throat, or shortness of breath, headache, loss of taste or smell, vomiting and/or diarrhea?

Visitors who fail these screenings will not be permitted to enter the hospital or clinic. Likewise, anyone with a confirmed or pending COVID-19 diagnosis is not allowed as a visitor or support person.

New Policies on Bill Payments and Medical Record Requests

To reduce the number of visitors to the hospital, patients are being asked not to come to the hospital in person to pay their bills or request medical records.

Patients are being asked to pay their bills by mail, phone or online through CCH’s free and secure Online Business Office: https://columbus.patientcompass.com/RA. If people have questions about bill payments, they should call the Patients Account Department at 402-562-3159 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.
Patients who want to request their medical records should call the Medical Records Department at 402-562-3140 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Medical Records staff will then explain the new procedures for picking up medical records and make arrangements to get patients the records they need.

Mask and Medical Supply Donation Policy

As of Friday, April 10, homemade masks are being accepted by Columbus Community Hospital.

The masks are for visitor use to conserve medical masks for patients and healthcare providers in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The public is asked to contact Dorothy Bybee, vice president of nursing and patient care services, at dabybee@columbushosp.org or (402) 562-4745. Bybee will provide pattern specifics to CCH standards. Donations of homemade masks will be laundered by CCH before visitor distribution. Wear and care instructions will be provided on an instructional insert in English and Spanish to visitors who receive masks.

Homemade mask donations will only be accepted from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday at the east entrance of Columbus Community Hospitals’ South Campus, 3005 19th St. Donations of elastic for use in the assembly of the masks will also be accepted at this location.

CCH has been astounded and impressed with the members of the community in wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Many generous individuals, nonprofits, private companies and others have reached out to support the hospital’s response to coronavirus.

Donations of new of new and unopened medical supplies that continue to be accepted at CCH include surgical masks and ear loop masks, N95 respirator masks, goggles, isolation gowns (impervious) and hand sanitizer (ethyl alcohol 60%).

Donations of new and unopened medical supplies can be coordinated by contacting Zac Kavan, director of materials management, at zakavan@columbushosp.org or (402) 562-4606.

The community is still encouraged to follow safety measures to limit the spread of COVID-19. That includes social distancing and staying at home. Limiting the number of people that come in contact with each other helps protect the critical supply of masks by reducing the spread of COVID-19.

Resuming Prevention and Elective Health Care

Now that hospitals and health care systems, including CCH, are reopening, people are encouraged to resume their regular health care activities if they have avoided them during the pandemic. This includes checkups and wellness visits for children, teens and adults. Although national and state recommendations continue to encourage social distancing, it is safe to attend these visits and it is important to do so. Regularly-scheduled checkups give health care providers an opportunity to detect physical and mental health issues, help patients manage their chronic conditions, promote healthy behaviors and answer any questions patients might have. Children's checkups also provide an opportunity for physicians to monitor children's growth and development, and update their vaccinations.

Other Steps to Reduce Spread

People can take everyday steps to protect themselves and others from COVID-19, including:

Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
If soap and water are not available, use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands
Avoid close contact with people who are sick
Stay home if you are sick
Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze and throw used tissues in the trash or cough or sneeze into the inside of your elbow
Wear a facemask if you are sick
Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces – phones, doorknobs, light switches, etc.

These tips are from the CDC. Visit this webpage to learn more.

Testing Opportunities

In June, CCH became a permanent Test Nebraska collection site for COVID-19. People who are having symptoms of COVID-19 and would like to be tested through Test Nebraska, must register online at https://www.testnebraska.com/en.

According to the CDC, people with COVID-19 may have a wide range of symptoms - ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure and include

Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea

After registering through Test Nebraska, people will receive a QR code and be assigned a testing appointment at CCH. Appointments are available on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. throughout July. The test will take place at CCH's existing outdoor testing sit and sample collection takes no more than five minutes.

To further prevent the spread of COVID-19 if you become sick, you should:

Stay home except to get medical care
Avoid public places
Wear a face mask

Masks: An Important Public Safety Tool

Wearing a mask is a simple and effective way to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. According to the CDC, COVID-19 is spread mainly from person to person through respiratory droplets which are produced when people cough, sneeze or talk.

Masks trap these respiratory droplets and prevent them from traveling into the air and onto other people. The CDC recommends people older than 2 years old wear masks or cloth face coverings in public, especially in places where social distancing is hard to enforce such as in pharmacies, grocery stores and at gas stations.

Updated Information for Travelers

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services has issued the following new recommendations for people who have traveled:

All returning travelers, from any international or domestic location, should assume that COVID-19 disease is present at the locations they have visited and traveled through.
All returning travelers, from any international or domestic location, should limit public interactions, practice strict social distancing, and self-monitor for symptoms.
Returning travelers from regions with widespread sustained transmission (e.g., CDC Level 3 countries - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices#alert - plus U.S. locales such as Seattle, WA; New York City; and Santa Clara County, CA) should immediately self-quarantine. Regions with widespread sustained transmission should be identified from CDC, state, and local public health websites and from media sources.
If a returning traveler develops fever or respiratory illness, they need to IMMEDIATELY self-isolate and report to a health care provider or local health department.
Individuals unable to observe the 14-day self-quarantine should consult with their local health department about appropriate actions.
Every health care worker who returns from travel should consult with a trained medical professional at their facility (e.g., infection preventionist or physician) and establish a specific infection control protocol (e.g., home quarantine, self-monitoring, PPE while at work) that mitigates patient and co-worker exposures.

For more information on these travel guidelines, visit http://dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/Coronavirus.aspx#SectionLink4.

Resources for More Information

This is a rapidly changing situation. To ensure you have the latest and most accurate information, we recommend using the following sources:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services: http://dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/Coronavirus.aspx
East Central District Health Department: https://ecdhd.ne.gov/covid-2019-novel-coronavirus/covid-2019-novel-coronavirus.html

Information from Our Local Health Experts

Dr. Mark Howerter, director of the Emergency Department, explains the new Directed Health Measures that were introduced on April 3, 2020.

View more informational videos from our healthcare professionals.