Baxter Regional Coronavirus (COVID-19) Preparation Update

Baxter Regional Medical Center continues to closely monitor the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Arkansas and is taking additional safety precautions. While there are currently no confirmed exposures for any Baxter Regional patients or employees, these elevated precautions have been amended with the health and safety of patients and employees as our top concern.

As the number of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases continues to rise in Arkansas, we are taking the following steps to keep our community safe from infection:

• A webpage with the latest local COVID-19 information is available at www.baxterregional.org/coronavirus.
• Baxter Regional COVID-19 Hotline: (870) 508-7001, available from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
  The hotline is staffed by registered nurses and nurse practitioners to screen patients who may suspect they have possible symptoms of Coronavirus (COVID-19).
• The Baxter Regional COVID-19 Taskforce continues to meet daily (Monday - Friday).

Telemedicine

Baxter Regional is working to create the functionality for hospital-owned clinics and specialty providers to utilize telemedicine as a tool to do provider-to-patient visits from clinics to a patient’s home. As this continues to evolve, Baxter Regional clinics will be able to see patients via telemedicine, phone and in the clinic if necessary.

Baxter Regional Family Clinic on Market is currently piloting telemedicine options with providers John Leslie, MD; Ben Stevens, MD; Brittney Frisby, MD; and Amanda Whitaker, APRN. Please call (870) 508-7600 for more information. Other participating clinics and specialty providers will be announced as they become available.

Hospital Department Changes

• All non-essential, invasive procedures at Interventional Pain Management, a department of Baxter Regional Medical Center, are suspended. Provider-to-patients visits will continue via telemedicine, by phone and in the clinic.
• Baxter Regional Volunteer Services is discontinued until further notice.
• Both locations of the Bargain Box (Mountain Home and Flippin) are closed and will not be accepting donations until further notice.
• The Pink-A-Dilly Gift Shop is closed until further notice.
• Baxter Regional Community Health Education & Support Houses are closed until further notice. All events and support group meetings are canceled and will be rescheduled. The community houses include the Mruk Family Education Center on Aging, Peitz Cancer Support House, Reppell Diabetes Learning Center and Schliemann Center for Women’s Health Education.

Visitor, Employee and Physician Facility Access Updates

• All access points into Baxter Regional Medical Center will be restricted to the following entrances, and all additional entrances will be completely disabled:
  - Main Entrance (Open Monday - Friday, 5 a.m. - 5 p.m.)
  - Medical Arts Entrance (Open Monday - Friday, 5 a.m. - 5 p.m.)
  - Cline Emergency Center Entrance (Open 24/7)
• All patients, visitors, employees and physicians will be temperature screened at the entrances mentioned above before they will be granted access into the facility.
• In the interest of keeping patients safe and in preparation for COVID-19, all non-essential visitors at Baxter Regional Medical Center are suspended from entering the facility (limit 1 visitor over the age of 18, per patient, per day, to be designated by the patient) until further notice. Hospital visitors are strongly discouraged at this time.
• Baxter Regional has suspended entrance for all non-essential vendors into our facilities until further notice.

Baxter Regional will continue to communicate regularly with the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in an effort to share resources and information pertaining to COVID-19. Collaboration between various community officials and leaders will be ongoing to ensure that patients and employees remain safe and informed.