Patients having laboratory tests done for issues other than COVID-19 at Wairoa Hospital and Health Centre are being directed to a dedicated lab entrance from this week.
Rather than entering through the main hospital doors and walking through to the laboratory, they now must walk around the outside of the hospital to the rear of the building, to the dedicated sign-posted laboratory entrance.
At that door, the patient will need to ring the bell after which lab staff dressed in protective equipment will greet and assess them, before carrying out the necessary tests. Patients with potential COVID-19 symptoms will be directed to drive to the CBAC, sited on the hospital grounds.
The change means less people are entering through the centre’s main door, further enabling people to keep a physical distance between themselves and others, says Wairoa Hospital and Health Centre manager Sonya Smith.
“We are focused on providing as many of our usual services as we can, while putting in place systems that keep people from being close to others outside of their home ‘bubble’.”
To further assist with this, general practice has been asked to take specimens themselves when at all possible, with the patient asked to then drop the specimen off at the new entrance.
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