COVID-19 Update: Visitation, Protective Eyewear, Drive-thru Testing

COVID-19 Updates Cover

Recently, we’ve been able to relax our COVID-19 guidelines because of the decline in COVID-19 cases in our area and within our system. However, we must continue to take certain safety precautions for our patients, their families and each other.

Employee Information:

As a reminder:

• We require that outside guest speakers must be vaccinated in order to come on campus. The maximum for these events is 25 attendees.
• The only non-Cook Children’s employees allowed onsite must be here for a meeting or for training purposes.
• We are not allowing any employee family members or friends onsite to visit at this time. We must still limit the number of people on campus as much as possible.

Eyewear: 

For all patient encounters, you must wear at least a surgical mask and eye protection.

Goggles and N-95 Masks

Fully vaccinated employees:

• Are no longer required to wear goggles and N-95 masks for aerosol generating procedures (AGP) on inpatients who have tested negative for COVID-19. However, you must continue to wear surgical masks and eye protection. This applies to inpatients who are all routinely tested on admission.
• Are no longer required to wear goggles and N95 masks for aerosol generating procedures (AGP) in outpatients who have not been tested, but they have answered “no” to the screening questions for COVID symptoms and exposures.
• Are no longer required to wear goggles and N-95 masks for giving nebulized treatments in the outpatient setting. However, you must continue to wear surgical masks and eye protection for this procedure.  This procedure is not believed to produce much aerosol and is lower risk.

Employees who have received an exemption or are not yet fully vaccinated:

• You must continue to wear goggles and N-95 masks during all these procedures.

Screening:

At this time, please continue with all current screening questions/protocols for patients and their families entering Cook Children’s.

Drive-thru testing

The drive-thru for patient testing located on main campus are now closed.

Primary care practices and Neighborhood clinics continue to offer COVID testing to their patient populations during an office visit as needed. The Urgent Care locations are no longer offering COVID test only services but do continue to have testing available for any patient seen during their visit to a UCC if necessary. 

Patient and Family Visitation Information:

• At Cook Children’s Medical Center, two designated caregivers may be with each child while they are a patient in the medical center.
• This does not apply to the emergency room or end-of-life situations when more than two individuals may be needed. These situations will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
• All surgery and procedural areas at the medical center and Dodson ASC, including the main OR, surgery waiting areas, etc. will follow the two designated caregivers policy in place for the medical center.

At other locations, including Primary Care and Specialty Care offices, such as Dodson and the Infusion Center; Urgent Care Centers; Neighborhood Clinics; Outpatient Surgery Centers in Hurst and Prosper; Rehab; Home Health office, our guidelines are:

• Any two people from the child’s household may come with the patient to any appointments or visits. For example: mom and sister; dad and daughter; mom and grandmother.
• Those visiting our locations will be screened upon entering (temperature checked/symptoms of illness).

Thank you all for your cooperation to keep everyone safe.