IVCH restricting access

Staff
Posted 3/18/20

PERU - Effective immediately and until further notice, Illinois Valley Community Hospital is restricting access to its main building at 925 West St. in Peru.

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IVCH restricting access

Posted

PERU - Effective immediately and until further notice, Illinois Valley Community Hospital is restricting access to its main building at 925 West St. in Peru. This is one of several measures being taken by IVCH to protect patients and staff from possible exposure to the coronavirus.

Patients who need to come to IVCH for required tests are asked to enter the hospital through entrance A at the southeast corner of the building adjacent to the main parking lot.

Patients needing emergency care should come to the main entrance off 6th Street on the north side of the building, next to the emergency department entrance. 

All other entrances - including the hospital’s West Street entrance - will be locked. An exterior map of the hospital campus showing entrance locations can be found at www.ivch.org.

In an effort to limit unnecessary personal contact, IVCH is also allowing only one other person to enter the hospital with a patient and that person must be age 18 or older. 

Obstetrics patients may have only one person with them for their entire stay and the one person accompanying a pediatric patient (anyone below the age of 18) must be the patient’s parent or legal guardian.

IVCH has also:

  • Eliminated patient visiting hours - no visitors are allowed until further notice.
  • Halted valet parking services indefinitely.
  • Suspended all services provided by volunteers, including the “Red Coat” volunteer escorts.
  • Closed the hospital gift shop.

“We are asking for the public’s help in keeping our patients and staff safe,” said Tommy Hobbs, IVCH chief executive officer.

Hobbs said the IVCH emergency room remains open 24 hours a day to treat serious illnesses and injuries. Patients with respiratory illness symptoms should call their doctor first or go to a walk-in clinic.