TO: Ballad Health All
FROM: Ballad Health Corporate Emergency Operations Center
DATE: March 25, 2022
TITLE: Updates on COVID-19 policies and guidelines as COVID numbers decrease
ACTION: Please cascade and share with team members.
Due to COVID-19 cases in our region subsiding, and to the substantial decrease in our COVID-19 inpatient census, we are loosening some restrictions and closing certain COVID-related programs. This memo covers the following topics:
- Hospital drive-thru testing sites and most BHMA Urgent Care drive-thru testing sites closing
- BHMA Urgent Care – Colonial Heights to reopen
- Helping Hands program standing down
- Hospitots masking policy
Hospital drive-thru testing sites, most BHMA Urgent Care drive-thru testing sites to close; inside testing still offered
Effective Friday, March 25, the remaining drive-thru COVID testing sites at Greeneville Community Hospital, Hawkins County Memorial Hospital, Sycamore Shoals Hospital and Unicoi County Hospital will be standing down services.
Ballad Health Medical Associates (BHMA) will be standing down seven of its eight testing tent locations, effective Sunday, March 27. The drive-thru testing tent at our Volunteer Parkway location in Bristol will remain open.
The following drive-thru testing tent locations will be closing:
- Urgent Care Kingsport
- Urgent Care Abingdon
- Urgent Care Norton
- Urgent Care Rogersville
- Urgent Care Elizabethton
- Urgent Care Johnson City
- Urgent Care Lebanon
We want to thank all team members who helped make COVID-19 testing more accessible by working at drive-thru tent locations. Regardless of the weather, our testing teams braved the elements to ensure our community had access to safe and effective testing.
Testing will continue inside Ballad Health Urgent Care locations. Beginning Monday, March 28, patients who seek COVID testing will be redirected to their closest urgent care, primary care or pharmacy that offers this service. Patients are encouraged to check community resources or call their primary care provider for testing availability.
Team members who want a COVID test can go to an urgent care location, show their badge and schedule a rapid test.
Team members can also do at-home COVID testing, using over-the-counter tests. The results can be submitted to Team Member Health. These tests are reimbursable with Ballad Health insurance. Any team member enrolled in a Ballad Health Medical/Pharmacy Plan is eligible through OptumRx. For more details, contact HR4U or see this message in Ballad Health News.
BHMA Urgent Care at Colonial Heights to reopen
The Ballad Health Medical Associates BHMA Urgent Care – Colonial Heights, located at 4600 Fort Henry Drive in Kingsport, will reopen on April 4. It will operate Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.
Helping Hands program standing down as of Sunday, March 27
We will be standing down the Helping Hands program effective Sunday, March 27.
- The last day for Helping Hands volunteer shifts will be on Saturday, March 26.
- In the event the COVID inpatient census reaches a critical mass in the future, we may restart this program. The infrastructure and processes are in place and can easily be ramped back up if the need arises.
- We want to express our deep appreciation to over 450 team members who participated in this program, and to the Operational Excellence team for their efforts to manage the process.
Hospitots masking policy changed
- Because of new guidance from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the steady decline of COVID cases in our region, effective March 21, masking is optional for children at Hospitots in Johnson City or the Children’s Center in Elizabethton. Children will not be required to wear a mask, but if parents prefer their child wears one, that is completely acceptable.
- The CDC now categorizes our community’s COVID level as Medium. The CDC allows daycares to follow community guidance for the prevention of COVID, so we are transitioning to a policy of optional masking.
- Please note, these guidelines for childcare differ from those used to determine precautions within healthcare facilities. Thus, masking is still required for visitors in patient care areas within Ballad Health hospitals.
More information
Have a question about COVID, vaccines or a new policy? Contact the Ballad Health Corporate Emergency Operations Center at BalladHealthCorporateEOC@balladhealth.org.
