Posted on March 12, 2020
COVID-19: Protecting our patients, staff and community
Updated: Nov. 13, 2020
Mary Free Bed’s priority is the safety of our patients, staff and community. Our experts are working diligently to protect everyone’s health through enhanced protocols and added resources. These measures follow national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and State of Michigan mandates due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital does not provide urgent care or primary care services. Call your primary care physician if you’re experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or have a medical question.
OUTPATIENT SERVICES
We’re excited to be able to serve you in person again, and we’re making it safe and easy to get the care you need at several convenient locations. If you’d rather receive virtual services from home, we can do that, too.
In-Person Visits
You can feel confident coming to see us. We’re following CDC and State of Michigan guidelines for disinfecting, distancing and wearing protective gear to protect your health and ours. Here’s what you can expect:
- Before your appointment, a patient service coordinator will let you know what to bring with you, share visitor guidelines and social distancing practices.
- We’re doing a brief health screening with everyone who enters, including temperature checks.
- You’ll be asked to wear a mask (or a face shield if you’re medically unable to wear a mask) and sanitize your hands.
- Staff members will wear protective gear and take necessary precautions to safely care for you.
- We’re sanitizing all equipment and surfaces in our waiting areas, treatment rooms and everything in between with disinfectant proven effective against COVID-19.
Click here to find a location near you.
Virtual Services
Connect with your doctor and therapy team in the comfort and safety of your home. Using secure technology, we make an online video call to your smartphone or tablet for evaluations and treatment. Call 616.840.8005 or 800.668.6001.
ORTHOTICS & PROSTHETICS + BIONICS
Mary Free Bed Orthotics & Prosthetics + Bionics clinics across Michigan, as well as custom seating and assistive technology services, are available to serve you. As with all our outpatient services, patients and parents or guardians of pediatric patients will complete a brief health screening and be asked to wear a mask (or a face shield if you’re medically unable to wear a mask) and sanitize your hands.
O & P + B staff members are on-call 24/7 for emergencies. If you have a question, call the location closest to you:
- Grand Rapids – 616.840.8007
- Muskegon – 231.798.0047
- Holland – 616.392.6240
- Lansing – 517.337.0300
- Saint Joseph – 269.429.3292
- Kalamazoo – 269.353.6895
- Saginaw – 989.583.3040
VISITORS
We’ve taken precautions to protect our patients, their loved ones and Mary Free Bed employees by reducing the number of people coming in and out of the Grand Rapids main campus hospital each day as well as at our outpatient locations.
Care managers share visitor guidelines with inpatients and their families. They work with those patients to identify designated visitors, and a list is at the West Entry check-in desk.
All visitors will be screened and must wear a surgical or homemade mask (or a face shield if you’re medically unable to wear a mask). No one younger than 18 is allowed to visit.
Update to Visitor Policies: Effective at 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16, we will be restricting the number of visitors allowed on our main campus.
- Adult inpatients – One designated adult visitor determined at the time of admission for the duration of the patient’s stay.
- Ventilator/Tracheostomy Patients – Two designated caregivers determined at the time of admission for the duration of the patient’s stay. Must be the same two caregivers the entire admission.
- Mary Free Bed Kids patients – Two designated caregivers determined at the time of admission for the duration of the patient’s stay. Must be the same two caregivers the entire admission.
- ReCOVery℠ unit – No visitors.
- Sub-Acute Rehabilitation – No visitors. Sub-acute rehabilitation falls under the rules of nursing homes, and the CDC recommends no visitors for nursing home and sub-acute units.
- Inpatient rehabilitation (Network locations) – Follow Network partner’s visitor policy.
- Outpatient therapy
- Mary Free Bed locations – One adult family member/caregiver.
- Network locations – Follow Network partner’s visitor policy.
- Orthotics & Prosthetics + Bionics – One adult family member/caretaker.
Visitation hours are 8 a.m.-8 p.m. daily at our hospital on the main campus in Grand Rapids. Hours are posted, and an announcement about hours ending is made nightly.
Visitors may take patients outside on the third-floor terrace.
We’re helping patients stay connected with loved ones through virtual visits and by phone.
SCREENING
Everyone (staff, patients and designated visitors) will be screened for COVID-19 symptoms and risk factors each time they arrive at a Mary Free Bed location.
Entry will be denied for those who don’t meet the evaluation criteria:
- Do you have symptoms that are different than you would normally have with allergies or a minor cold, including:
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- Fever (oral temperature of 100.0 or higher)
- Cough with respiratory illness
- Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
- Sore throat with respiratory illness
If you answered YES to the any of these questions:
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- You will not be allowed to enter.
- If you’re a patient, please call to reschedule your appointment.
SAFETY TIPS
To prevent the spread of illness and protect yourself, follow these guidelines:
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Maintain a safe social distance of at least six feet apart.
- Stay home if you’re sick.
- Cover coughs and sneezes.
- Avoid others who are ill.
STAY INFORMED
Does your workplace or office need a COVID-19 informational poster? Download one here.
For more information, visit:
