Salinas Valley Health COVID 19 Update

Media Contact: Karina Rusk
831-759-1843

Latest Information

To date, Salinas Valley Health (Salinas Valley Health) has elevated 64 cases and provided specimens to the Monterey County Health Department for testing. As of 6 pm, Sunday, March 22, we have received 6 positive results, one of which required hospitalization.

This is an update of one positive result since end of day Friday, when we reported 50 cases sent for testing and 5 positive results, one of which required hospitalization.

Salinas Valley Health Timeline

• 03-20-20 Salinas Valley Health activates a free bilingual hotline for community members to call and get answers to their COVID 19 questions. The hotline is manned by nurses 7 days a week during the hours of 7 am-11 pm. The number is 831-755-0793.
• 03-20-20 Clinical personnel begins offering a limited drive-up screening/assessment option for patients referred by their physician or those exhibiting COVID 19 symptoms who have been referred by the Salinas Valley Health hotline. This service is intended for people who are exhibiting COVID 19 symptoms and who have possibly been exposed to someone tested positive for COVID 19 or have recently traveled to a restricted country. Those meeting the COVID 19 threshold for testing are taken to the isolation tent for nose and throat swabs, which are then sent to the Monterey County Health Department for testing.
• 03-18-20 Salinas Valley Health announces new policies for patients and visitors. Everyone entering the hospital is screened by a nurse with verbal questions and visual assessment of symptoms. Patient visitation is limited to one person per day (must be 16 or older), with exceptions allowing for two visitors for OB patients and exceptions considered for critically ill and end of life patients.
• 03-16-20 Salinas Valley Health began operating an alternative care site near the Emergency Room. The alternative care site is being used in conjunction with a triage tent to screen people with respiratory ailments to help stop the spread of COVID 19 and prevent other patients from potentially being exposed to the virus.
• 03-12-20 A triage tent outside the ER entrance is used to screen people with respiratory illnesses to determine if they meet the criteria for COVID 19 testing. The screening is based on a medical assessment of symptoms, the severity of symptoms and factors such as travel and age.
• 02-10-20 Salinas Valley Health activates what’s known as HICS– our Hospital Incident Command System. It sets into motion a predetermined organizational command chart with people acting in various capacities and outlining roles and responsibilities. It ensures operations in any disaster or emergency situation are effective and efficient.

Early Proactive Response

Local health care leaders began monitoring developments in Wuhan, China when the virus was first reported in late December 2019. The Monterey County Health Department and all four area hospitals (Salinas Valley Health, Montage Health, Natividad and Mee Memorial) began conversations and coordination in January 2020 about proactive and precautionary measures should the virus spread. Representatives from each of those organizations are in daily contact, collaborating best policies to protect the health of the community and keeping the public informed about the status of COVID 19 cases in Monterey County.