Local COVID-19 Call Center Established
posted
on Tuesday, March 17, 2020
in
COVID-19
To help manage the number of calls related to COVID-19 to the local family practice clinics and Spencer Hospital emergency department, a Clay County Medical Community COVID-19 Call Center has been established and will be operational effective March 18.
“The clinic and hospital are receiving numerous calls from people who are concerned about their risk for becoming infected with COVID-19,” explained Colette Rossiter, Clay County Public Health nurse. “The call center is designed to help people determine if they meet the criteria for testing. If they do, they will be asked to call their physician for further instructions.”
Nate McCormick, Avera Medical Group Spencer manager, added: “In our region, all tests for COVID-19 are transported to the University of Iowa to the State Hygienic Laboratory where the tests are conducted. This means that locally we can only collect a test sample if the patient meets the state lab’s criteria as they will not run a specimen from a patient who does not meet protocol.”
The local COVID-19 Call Center will operate from 7 AM – 7 PM each weekday. The local number is (712) 264-6514 and the toll-free number is 1-800-848-0638.
- coronavirus