SMH board discusses COVID updates, new call light system

Stephens Memorial Hospital board approved funding for a new hospital call light system and provided updates regarding COVID-19 during their meeting June 17. The updates included upcoming changes to policies and new guidelines regarding COVID-19 vaccines.

The hospital was set to eliminate COVID-19 pre-screenings by June 15. SMH, along with other hospitals, received a notice after Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services went to a hospital in Odessa, which had stopped the mask mandate and temperature screenings, and was going to write them up for noncompliance.

Due to this situation, SMH will continue to require masks, take temperatures and follow other CDC guidelines until further notice.

The FDA recently increased the shelf-life of the Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine, from three months to 4.5 months. J&J is able to be administered in just one dose, as opposed to the two-shot COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

For the full story, click here to subscribe or log in to read the Wednesday, June 30 edition of the Breckenridge American.