Richland County Hospital confirms care for presumptive positive COVID-19 patient

Columbia, SC (WOLO) –Prisma Health Richland Hospital in Columbia has confirmed that they’re caring for the patient from Kershaw County with presumptive positive novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Hospital officals say the patient is in a special isolation room that helps keeps our team members and the community safe.

“Because of our expertise, Prisma Health routinely treats patients with potentially infectious diseases and follows extensive protocols to ensure the safety of our patients, team members, community and visitors,” hospital officials said in a press release.

Prisma Health physicians, Emergency Management and Infection Prevention teams are following established infection control protocols and working closely with our partners at SC DHEC and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according the officials.

Scott Sasser, M.D., Prisma Health acute care chief clinical officer for the Midlands, said, “The health and wellbeing of our community, including our team members, is of the utmost importance. I want to reassure everyone that Prisma Health is prepared to respond to COVID-19. We have enacted our Hospital Incident Management Team (HIMT) across Prisma Health to continue to manage our approach to this public health concern. As part of our approach, we have extensive plans in place to handle this kind of incident.”

Sasser added, “We want to commend our entire team, especially our front-line caregivers. They are showing their commitment to our community by caring for this patient. We have a team who not only is well prepared with the proper training, but also has all proper protective equipment to minimize their risk of exposure.”

As a reminder to the public, if you believe you may have COVID-19, call your doctor first.

For more information about what Prisma Health is doing to inform the community about COVID-19, visit PrismaHealth.org/Coronavirus. Community members also can access Prisma Health Virtual Visit, a quick online care option for common conditions which includes a new on-demand video option and an online visit option.