Providers explain COVID protocols

By Melinda L. Lucas

The Shackelford County Hospital District’s board of directors met with clinic providers Travis Wilburn and Claire Ware during a regular monthly meeting, which was moved to 4:00 p.m. Tuesday so that it would be easier for the nurse practitioners (NPs) to attend.

Wilburn and Ware explained the protocols being used at the adjacent clinic in order to keep both staff and patients as safe as possible, with COVID testing being conducted in the mornings.

Until a new door is installed and work completed on a new testing area at the north door, the staff is using the east end of the building, then sanitizing it before it is used for physical therapy in the afternoons. Patients are actually swabbed outdoors, Wilburn said.

Ware stated that there had been another “spike” in testing this week, and that they had about 215 tests left, about half of what they had started with in November. Both NPs felt it was unlikely that the clinic would get more tests in the near future, and also stated that PPE is in short supply.

No information had been received about when the new vaccine might be received locally, Wilburn said, but both providers indicated that they “were not afraid of it.”

Other Business

•Board member Janna Ledbetter, who was unable to attend the last meeting, was sworn in by board president Jo Ann Estridge.

•Rent for physical therapist Lacy Viertel, who is renting the east end of the clinic building, was set at $450 per month, starting when she has access to the space for the entire day.

•The directors opted to keep the district and clinic sessions separate rather than combining them, because that seems to be the more effective system.

•There was no action following a two-hour closed session that listed personnel issues, evaluations, Christmas bonuses, and “invoices for admin. debit card.”