Staff members providing direct patient care will be required to wear masks beginning Thursday, January 11
Vermont Business Magazine Starting tomorrow, the University of Vermont Medical Center will resume mandated masking for staff members providing direct patient care.
Effective Thursday, January 11, employees are required to wear a mask in the following circumstances:
- When in a patient room, exam room, or when providing direct patient care.
- In non-patient-care interactions, upon a patient’s request.
The updated masking requirements apply only to UVM Medical Center employees. Masking remains optional in public areas of UVM Medical Center such as hallways, shuttles, nurses’ stations, and cafeterias. Patients and visitors with symptoms of respiratory illness continue to be required to wear a mask when in any UVM Medical Center facility.
The hospital encourages all employees, patients, and visitors to consider wearing a mask while in all UVM Medical Center facilities – especially if individuals are immunocompromised, are not feeling well, or have been recently exposed to someone with a respiratory illness.
Infectious disease specialists at the Medical Center say the decision to resume limited masking requirements for employees during direct patient care comes amid an increase in respiratory infections such as RSV, influenza, COVID and Rhinovirus in the community, as well as increased hospitalizations due to respiratory infections.
“Masking is a simple step that we can take to keep our patients safe and prevent staff illnesses and ensure that we are here to take care of our patients,” said Stephen Leffler, MD, president and chief operating officer of UVM Medical Center.
Leffler added that UVM Medical Center’s clinical leadership and infectious disease team will continue to evaluate local and regional trends in respiratory infections to determine when to lift the limited staff masking requirement. The hospital monitors data including sustained reduction in infection rates, admissions due to respiratory infections, respiratory virus test positivity, staffing levels and hospital acquired respiratory infections.
VDH: COVID-19 hospitalizations rising, no spike in deaths
About the University of Vermont Medical Center
The University of Vermont Medical Center is a 499-bed tertiary care regional referral center providing advanced care to approximately 1 million residents in Vermont and northern New York. Together with our partners at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, we are Vermont’s academic medical center. The University of Vermont Medical Center also serves as a community hospital for approximately 150,000 residents in Chittenden and Grand Isle counties.
The University of Vermont Medical Center is a member of The University of Vermont Health Network, an integrated system established to deliver high-quality academic medicine to every community we serve.
For more information visit www.UVMHealth.org/MedCenter or visit our Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blog sites at www.UVMHealth.org/MedCenterSocialMedia.
Source: 1.10.2024. Burlington, Vt. – UVM Health Network. UVMHealth.org
