Banner Churchill -- call first

Information provided by Banner Hospital website through their public relations department -- Banner Health has developed a process to safely screen patients for COVID-19 in our primary care clinics. In order to be screened in one of these clinics, patients would need to meet Centers for Disease Control criteria for testing. This can be determined through a phone conversation with one of our team members, 775-423-3151. If the patient meets criteria and it is determined that further in-person evaluation or testing is necessary, he or she will be scheduled for an appointment to be seen at one of our clinics and provided with instructions for how to safely enter the building in cooperation with the on-site medical team. Please call your primary care provider office to discuss your symptoms and determine if in-person evaluation or testing is necessary. If you do not have a primary care provider and would like to establish care with Banner, you can find a doctor through our online search tool: bannerhealth.com/doctors.  Banner is continuing to closely monitor the situation regarding the COVID-19 outbreak. The safety of our employees and our patients is of primary importance to us. Outbreaks such as COVID-19 and influenza are best controlled by practicing good infection prevention principles. We safely care for patients with respiratory viruses every day. Our routine processes of putting masks on patients who have fever and respiratory illness, asking about travel history, and following policies on caring for patients with these types of infections not only help us provide safe patient care but also a safe work environment. We will continue to exclusively follow guidance and recommendations from the CDC as our national public health experts. Our preparedness and response activities to date include: •Creating a team to ensure consistent approach to preparedness across our Banner entities. •Having hospital infection prevention leaders review local response plans related to infectious diseases with their local leaders. Our goal is to ensure everyone is aware of their responsibilities in the event we see an influx of patients. •Carefully monitoring supply inventories for all essential supplies including personal protective equipment and medications and working with our vendors and public health agencies. About Banner Health Headquartered in Arizona, Banner Health is one of the largest nonprofit health care systems in the country. The system owns and operates 28 acute-care hospitals, Banner Health Network, Banner – University Medicine, academic and employed physician groups, long-term care centers, outpatient surgery centers and an array of other services; including Banner Urgent Care, family clinics, home care and hospice services, pharmacies and a nursing registry. Banner Health is in six states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com.       Never miss the local news -- read more on The Fallon Post home page. If you enjoy The Fallon Post, please support our effort to provide local, independent news and make a contribution today.  Your contribution makes possible this online news source for all things Fallon.