Cody Regional Health Initiates Crisis Standards of Care

Cody Regional Health (CRH) has implemented the Wyoming Department of Health Crisis Standards of Care (CSC) and initiated our internal Incident Command System (ICS) to manage the large influx of COVID patients in addition to our summer patient volumes.

Over the last several weeks there has been an increase of COVID patients at Cody Regional Health’s Emergency Department, Walk-in Clinic, and Acute Care/Critical Care units. Montana and surrounding state hospitals have been unable to accept transfers requiring critical care as they are at or over their capacity. This is the main reason CRH has implemented ICS. 

The guiding principle of CSC is to do the greatest good for the greatest number of persons and is defined as a major change in usual healthcare operations. This can affect the level of care provided which is made necessary by some pervasive or catastrophic disaster, in this case, COVID-19.

“We are possibly going to a different standard of care soon, due to this major change in our health care operations in order to meet patient needs. This could mean double occupancy in our ACU/CCU units,” states Elise Lowe, MD, Hospitalist at CRH. “We have communicated our situation with the Big Horn Basin Healthcare Coalition, Park County Public Health, the Wyoming Department of Health, and Homeland Security.”

“Cody Regional Health leadership has come together to discuss how various departments throughout our system can assist with the increased volumes and staffing needs. We want people to know they can come to us for help, but we also need help from our communities. Please social distance, wear a mask and stay home if you are experiencing COVID symptoms,” states Keith Ungrund, Chief Clinical Officer at CRH.

CRH elective surgeries are at risk of being canceled depending on resources (e.g. staffing availability, bed capacity, and supply chains). Only emergent surgeries will be considered moving forward if COVID cases continue to increase.

Reduced visitation hours are currently in place at CRH, limiting visitors to 1 per patient between the hours of 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM for NON-COVID patients at this time. This may change as community COVID numbers change.

If you would like to be tested for COVID, you can order a COVID test online through the Wyoming Department of Health, make an appointment with your local Walgreens if available, or if you believe you need to be seen by a provider due to the below respiratory symptoms, please visit CRH’s Walk-in Clinic. If you are experiencing shortness of breath, please visit your closest emergency room.

Respiratory Clinic Symptoms include:

• Fever
• Cough
• Diarrhea
• Loss of taste/sense of smell
• Nausea-vomiting
• Sore throat

In order to preserve Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Cody Regional Health’s (CRH) Walk-in Clinic team, located within Cathcart Health Center at 424 Yellowstone Avenue in Cody, Wyoming, are asking patients with respiratory-related issues to use our walk-in clinic during the first 2 hours of opening, Monday through Friday | 8:00 to 10:00 AM | and Saturday through Sunday | 9:00 to 11:00 AM |.

Walk-in Clinic Hours for non-respiratory patients are Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 6:30 pm, Saturday 9:00 am to 5:30 pm and Sunday 9:00 am to 3:30 pm.

For any questions related to school exposures or returning to school that does not require urgent evaluation by a provider, please contact your school nurse. CRH cannot provide any guidance or testing related to school policies.

For further questions about COVID-19 testing please visit www.codyregionalhealth.org or visit www.CDC.gov. Cody Regional Health and Park County Public Health will be working together to monitor each case. For further information about COVID-19, please call 307-527-1870 or visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html

For assistance with this story, please contact Cody Regional Health at crh@codyregionalhealth.org.

###

About Cody Regional Health

Cody Regional Health (CRH) is a national leading critical care access healthcare system serving Northwest Wyoming. CRH employs and partners with over 100 providers offering a wide variety of comprehensive services including a walk-in clinic, Orthopaedic clinic, and wound care clinic, and cardiology center. Adjacent to our hospital is a 94-bed Long-Term Care Center and 16-bed chemical dependency center. CRH offers an 8-bed hospice care house and a regional cancer center. CRH abides by the Planetree philosophy as a model of health care. The Planetree model strives to enhance patient comfort by personalizing, humanizing, and demystifying the health care experience. More information can be found at www.codyregionalhealth.org.