June 9, 2020
St. Peter’s Health announced today that it is modifying its current visitor restrictions and changing the location of its COVID-19 testing. This follows the State of Montana’s move to phase two of the Reopening the Big Sky on June 1.
Staring Monday, June 8, St. Peter’s Health will move its drive-up COVID-19 testing from the tents behind the medical group at 2550 Broadway St. to its Urgent Care location at the Regional Medical Center (hospital). “We are not changing the service we provide, we are just expanding our hours and changing the location,” said St. Peter’s Health Primary Care Nurse Director Rhonda Hinrichs, RN. The Urgent Care at the Regional Medical Center is open from 9:00am to 8:00pm Monday through Friday and 9:00am to 6:00pm on the weekends.
The organization has dedicated parking spaces for drive-up COVID-19 testing outside the Urgent Care location. Signage instructs patients with a provider order to call the Urgent Care so a medical professional can come to their car to complete the COVID-19 test. People who have non-emergent COVID-19 symptoms and do not have a provider order for the test are encouraged to call their primary care provider, call the St. Peter’s Health COVID-19 Call Center at 406-457-4180 or visit the Urgent Care location at the Regional Medical Center for a walk-in appointment.
Staring June 8, St. Peter’s Health will also allow two visitors to accompany or visit patients at its facilities. The organization reminds the community that this is subject to change, and that visitation may be restricted in higher acuity areas like the emergency department and intensive care unit or in other areas based on the care team’s discretion, infection prevention protocols and that status of the unit at the time. The local health care system encourages community members to call the unit before visiting a hospitalized patient to learn if visitation is allowed and advisable.
“We are allowing more visitors at the hospital, but we cannot let down our guard. COVID-19 is still in our community and state, which means visitors can expect a number of safety precautions when they visit our facilites,” said St. Peter’s Health Chief Medical Officer and President of the Regional Medical Center Dr. Shelly Harkins. St. Peter’s Health is requiring visitors to wear a mask while at its facilities and all visitors will be screened at entrances for symptoms or contact with anyone who has COVID-19. Masks are available to borrow. “While we are modifying some of the restrictions that have been in place at our facilities for the last three months, we are fully prepared to care for community members with COVID-19, and we will not hesitate to change our restrictions or precautions as needed based on our capacity and prevalence of COVID-19 in our community.”
“We cannot emphasize how important it is to truthfully report your symptoms and stay home if you are feeling under the weather,” said Dr. Harkins. “From newborn babies to people with cancer, we care for our most medically vulnerable community members. Do not visit or accompany a patient if you are feeling sick for the safety of our patients and our over 1,600 caregivers.” St. Peter’s Health is evaluating when it will re-start many of its on-site health and wellness classes. You can stay up-to-date on all St. Peter’s Health safety precautions, care options and more at www.sphealth.org.
About St. Peter’s Health
St. Peter’s is a system of health care services including a 99-bed acute care hospital, physician clinics, cancer treatment center, 24-bed behavioral health unit, urgent care clinics, home health and hospice care, dialysis center, and ambulance services. St. Peter’s serves the Helena region and southwest Montana counties of Lewis and Clark, Broadwater, Jefferson, Meagher and Powell, with a combined population of approximately 97,000 residents. The mission of St. Peter’s is to partner with patients, the community and medical staff to provide exceptional and compassionate healthcare. For more information, visit sphealth.org.
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