Testing is by Referral Only – Patients Should Call Their Doctor or Vermont Department of Health with Symptoms
Vermont Business Magazine The UVM Medical Center has partnered with the Champlain Valley Exposition on an initiative to safely and efficiently test patients whose physicians believe they may have the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. A pop-up testing site will be operated for 4 hours per weekday on the exposition grounds. This is being made possible through UVM HealthNet’s Community Paramedic Program, which aims to decrease visits to the Emergency Department. It is also supported by the UVM Medical Center Emergency Department.
· On Monday, the pilot day of the initiative, clinical staff tested more than 20 patients who had been referred by a physician’s office or Urgent Care.
· It is important that members of the public understand that this testing is not on-demand.
· Only patients who have a documented referral from their physician or the Vermont Department of Health will be tested, and all others will be asked to leave.
· This initiative will help alleviate pressure on Emergency Department and Urgent Care teams, and will help patients receive testing more efficiently.
· People who are concerned that they may be sick should call their physician or the Department of Health to discuss their symptoms.
Tuesday, March 17, at 10:30 a.m. we will welcome media to tour the area and be debriefed on how the first day went before patients arrive. Please contact Annie Mackin to arrange this at 802-782-1589. Any media who arrive at the testing site outside of this arrangement will be asked to leave.
Additional updates related to COVID-19 will be posted to our website at: www.uvmhealth.org/Pages/Coronavirus.aspx
You can also visit the Vermont Department of Health Website for more information: healthvermont.gov/covid19
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.