Effective immediately, the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. is revising its screening protocols for patients and visitors to the Commonwealth Health Center, as the CNMI remains in COVID-19 Community Level Medium.<\/p>\n
Patient Screening<\/strong> For patients who will undergo surgical procedures in the operating room: \u2022 PCR\/Rapid antigen testing is not required for all asymptomatic inpatients who are being seen for surgery or other procedures.<\/p>\n \u2022 PCR\/Rapid antigen testing is required for all patients scheduled for elective\/emergency procedure who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms:<\/p>\n – Elective surgery patients who test positive for COVID-19 should isolate for five days. Their procedure will be rescheduled.<\/p>\n – Emergency surgery patients who test positive for COVID-19 will be operated on.<\/p>\n \u2022 All other scenarios will be at the attending physician\u2019s discretion and\/or clinical situation that calls for either PCR or rapid antigen testing.<\/p>\n \u2022 Outpatient PCR testing will not be required for normal deliveries. Rapid antigen testing may be used in place of PCR.<\/p>\n For patients who will be admitted to inpatient units from outpatient clinics: \u2022 Patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 within the last 90 days are not required to be tested; proof of positive test result must be verified.<\/p>\n For patients visiting the emergency room (ER): For patients seeking treatment under oncology services: Visitor Screening<\/strong> Any person presenting with symptoms will not be allowed inside the facility even if they present proof of a negative COVID-19 antigen test result less than 72 hours prior.<\/p>\n For individuals coming in to visit or watch a patient in a ward: \u2022 Individuals 12 years old and younger are restricted from visiting (but may be allowed by the attending physician on a case-to-case basis).<\/p>\n \u2022 If a visitor is symptomatic, they will be instructed to refrain from visiting or staying with an admitted patient and to remain home to self-isolate.<\/p>\n The following visiting hours remain in effect: 12pm \u2013 8pm, unless otherwise noted; and a\u00a0maximum of two visitors are allowed at a time. The listed specialty areas have the following visiting hours and guidelines: – Visitation remains flexible and at the discretion of the ED provider. One support person may be with the patient during their course of stay.<\/p>\n \u2022 Intensive Care Unit (ICU)<\/p>\n – 9 \u2013 11am, 12 \u2013 8pm<\/p>\n \u2022 Neonatal ICU<\/p>\n – 9 \u2013 11am, 3 \u2013 7pm<\/p>\n – Only parents of the neonate are allowed.<\/p>\n \u2022 Psychiatric Unit<\/p>\n – 2 \u2013 3pm, 7 \u2013 8pm<\/p>\n – Only family members or friends as requested by the patient are allowed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Effective immediately, the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. is revising its screening protocols for patients and visitors…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":340943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[666],"class_list":["post-374006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-chcc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing of all admissions is no longer required but may be requested by the attending physician prior to admission. PCR and\/or antigen testing may be used by attending physicians for patients suspected of having COVID-19 as a reason for hospitalization, or for any already admitted patients who exhibit new respiratory symptoms related to COVID-19 while hospitalized.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Outpatient PCR\/rapid antigen testing is not required for patients scheduled for elective procedure who are asymptomatic and have no known recent exposure to COVID-19.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Patients suspected of having COVID-19 as a primary reason for admission may be tested using PCR and\/or rapid antigen testing.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Patients in the ER suspected of having COVID-19 as the primary reason for their symptoms will be tested using PCR and\/or rapid antigen testing at the discretion of the medical provider.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Pre-chemo PCR testing remains as requested by the oncologist. This applies to admitted patients who have not been tested but are due for chemotherapy while hospitalized.<\/p>\n
\nAll visitors for outpatient services and inpatient settings within the hospital will be screened for flu-like or COVID-19 symptoms daily upon entry, and must use face masks properly, covering both the mouth and nose.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Visitors, irrespective of vaccine status, must show a negative antigen or PCR test within 72 hours to be allowed to visit or watch a patient.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Emergency Department<\/p>\n