NW Illinois News

A Sterling hospital has made some changes to its normal operations to ensure it's working effectively and protecting patients and employees. 

According to KWQC, CGH Medical Center employs 1,585 individuals. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, officials have made changes to practices for the good of all involved. Dr. Eric Kuhns, director of the Department of Medicine, explained the measures taken in the outbreak. 

“We had one of the very early patients in the area, so we were all-in very early and we took very drastic steps, as did the nation at that time, to shut down almost all routine appointments and surgeries,” Kuhn said. “Our focus turned almost entirely to an all-in effort to think about, ‘How do we manage this well?’”

Beginning in mid-March, the CGH Coronavirus IC Group started to meet daily to review personal protective equipment and mask supply in addition to testing and planning for the treatment of the coronavirus. Given the contagiousness of the coronavirus, Kuhn said, the team at CGH has to be especially careful in its daily practices. While many hospitals have been struggling with shortages of supplies, CGH was well-prepared with emergency stocks of masks and other supplies. 

“All of those things have to be dealt with thoughtfully, so I'd say the first two to three weeks were an all-in effort to make sure we do that well,” Kuhns said.

In addition to being careful to keep distance apart as best as possible, anyone who enters any of the clinics’ locations must wear a mask. Visitors may not come into the facility unless they are approved and approvals are only issued on a individual basis. 

Kuhns praised those who have been working tirelessly to clean the rooms, calling them the “unsung heroes.”