Pikeville Medical Center opened the Regional Flu Center in response to President Barack Obama’s emergency declaration due to the seasonal flu and H1N1 flu outbreak. The hospital’s proactive approach has earned accolades and inquiries from health care providers from across the nation.
“The opening of the Regional Flu Center has helped us alleviate the overwhelming traffic we encountered in our emergency department at the beginning of the flu season,” said Walter E. May, president and chief executive officer of Pikeville Medical Center. “Additionally, treating patients with flu and flu-like symptoms at an off-site location has helped us eliminate the possibility of the virus spreading among the general hospital population, visitors and our employees.”
Located on North Mayo Trail in the former Free Screening Center, the Regional Flu Center is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is fully staffed with physicians, nurses and other health care professionals. The facility is equipped with testing, lab and x-ray services. Additionally, patients, who have orders from family physicians for testing, lab or x-ray services, can utilize the center for all of their testing needs in one centralized location.
“The Regional Flu Center is essentially a one-stop shop for someone experiencing flu-like symptoms,” said Peggy Justice, vice president of physician services at Pikeville Medical Center. “With the flu virus spreading at record levels, we felt it was necessary to devote an entire off-site facility to the treatment and diagnosis of the flu.”
Pikeville Medical Center is the only hospital in Kentucky to open an off-site facility dedicated to treating flu patients.
“To my knowledge, we are the only hospital in the nation to take this kind of approach to combating the flu,” May added. “We feel this type of approach best meets the needs of our patients experiencing flu-like symptoms and helps us further ensure the safety and well-being of our patients, visitors and employees at our main campus.”
May said patients with severe flu-like symptoms would be admitted to Pikeville Medical Center and isolated from other patients.
“This is a serious issue, and we encourage the public to be vigilant and follow the precautionary guidelines that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have in place,” he added.
Hospital officials have also put into place precautionary measures for visitors. Only the May Tower, Leonard Lawson Cancer Center, Emergency Department and Heart Institute entrances are open to the public. Additionally, visitors under the age of 12 or anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms are not permitted to visit patients.
For more information about the Regional Flu Center, please call (606) 437-1887.
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