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Responding to COVID-19
As we all slowly return to activities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, UT Southwestern remains committed to your safety and well-being whenever you come to any of our facilities – either as a patient or a visitor. At the outset of this health crisis, we implemented a broad range of safety precautions, and those measures remain in effect. Many have been enhanced, as you will see in this video.
All visitors, patients, and staff will be be screened at designated entry points for symptoms and exposure, and will receive a no-touch thermometer scan.
Patients will be tested for COVID-19 within 72 hours of a scheduled surgery or procedure so results will be available for review 24 hours ahead of the appointment time.
The Clements University Hospital ER was designed with airflow systems to handle pandemic situations, and patients with COVID-19 are treated in a separate area of the hospital.
Our video visit capabilities have greatly increased, so you can get access to many of your specialists without ever leaving your house. Virtual care also reduces the risk of COVID-19 exposure by limiting the number of people in our facilities.
We are disinfecting clinical spaces daily with procedures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to kill the COVID-19 virus. High-touchpoint areas are wiped down at least three times per day.
We are requiring that everyone – patients, visitors, and staff – wear some form of covering over their nose and mouth. If you don’t have a cloth covering or mask, we’ll be happy to provide one. However, if you have a mask, please bring it.
At all UT Southwestern facilities, our staff is adhering to safe physical distancing guidelines, and we request that you do, too. Signage and floor stickers designate safe distances in high-traffic areas.
For your safety and convenience, we’ve raised the gates at all of our garages, and valet parking options are available at some of our facilities, with appropriate precautions in place.
Patient safety is, and always will be, our number one priority at UT Southwestern. As the nation and community recover from this pandemic, you can count on us to deliver the care you need just as we always have – safely and effectively. That remains our commitment to you.
With the health of our patients and health care professionals in mind, we have put new measures in place to limit the number of visitors per patient, restrict the number of entry points to our medical facilities, and implement screening guidelines for all visitors.
Please see the limited entrances or access points for our patient care areas.
Patients and visitors will have limited access points to our hospital and care facilities. Please view the table for the most up-to-date information.
Our patient intake process involves immediately identifying those who have potential respiratory or other infectious diseases and providing masks and isolation for further screening. If you are admitted, all patient rooms at UTSW Clements University Hospital are private rooms, limiting exposure to other patients.
Intake coordinators are trained to ask an initial round of questions. Infection preventionists and/or infectious disease specialists might ask additional questions to help further guide the potential infectious diagnoses and to order the appropriate tests.
The screening protocol used at UT Southwestern has been developed using the national expertise available from our faculty who are specialty-trained in infectious diseases and in accordance with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS).
Aston Ambulatory Care Center and Simmons Cancer Center are valet parking only.
Zale Lipshy Pavilion and the Outpatient Building have both valet and self-parking options.
Clements University Hospital and all other campus locations are self-park. We’ve raised the gates for your convenience.
Valet attendants are wearing masks and using hand sanitizer between each transaction.
Cafeterias remain open, but self-service food stations have been discontinued. Grab-and-go packaged options are still available.
Some tables have been removed from the dining area to create safe social distances, and we ask diners to limit large gatherings at meals.
The Outpatient Building, West Campus Building 3 (WCB3), and the Radiation Oncology building coffee shops will operate during regular hours.
You can take advantage of our virtual technology to connect to your loved ones. UTSW’s Clements University Hospital and Zale Lipshy Pavilion have a number of ways to connect with family and friends virtually.
Our in-room technology includes several resources to help enhance comfort and care. These include:
UT Southwestern has canceled all in-person gatherings or meetings of five individuals or more and is replacing necessary events with virtual options through online activities, courses, lectures, and other social distancing practices. UTSW faculty, staff, and others are not permitted to attend any events or meetings with more than five individuals while representing UTSW or during work hours. In addition, all public and private tours of UT Southwestern are discontinued until further notice.
