The screening will consist of three questions: Do you have a fever or worsening cough or flu-like symptoms? Have you traveled to China, Japan, Italy, Iran or South Korea in the last 14 days? Have you been in close contact with someone, including health care workers, confirmed to have the coronavirus disease?
All veterans, visitors and volunteers are asked to use the Gettysburg Avenue or South Liscum Drive entrances between 6:30 and 9:30 a.m. Monday to Friday.
Staff are advised to use the North Liscum entrance during these hours.
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All three gates will be open to everyone from 9:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. Monday to Friday. During evenings and weekends, the Gettysburg and South Liscum gates will be closed – all traffic should come through the North Liscum entrance during nights and weekends, the VA said.
On a typical work day, about 2,000 employee drive to the West Dayton campus, Froats said. About 1,500 patients visit VA medical facilities and clinics in Dayton, Springfield, Middletown, Lima and Richmond Ind. total on a typical business day. Of those facilities, Dayton is the largest by far, Froats said.
Screening is happening at all VA medical centers and clinics. The screening will remain in place for the foreseeable future, the department has said.
“People need to understand other hospitals in our community, and maybe across the nation, aren’t necessarily taking these steps at this time,” Froats said. “But we are because of the population that we serve. A lot of veterans are older, and that is one of the high-risk populations for coronavirus. We take the health of our veterans very seriously.”
No Dayton VA patient has been confirmed to have the coronavirus disease at this time, he added. “It is out of an abundance of caution” that the VA is doing this, he said.
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