Fulton State Hospital is committed to keeping our client’s, staff, and the community safe during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Interns, as employees of Fulton State Hospital will be following the guidelines below. These guidelines will likely change as course of the outbreak changes. With regards to interns, additional accommodations will be considered depending on needs.
All Fulton State Hospital Employees are currently designated as “essential.” and many services are continuing to occur face to face. Some of the protective measures we have put in place include:
We are currently utilizing a Phased Recovery plan at our facility. The plan is based on a combination of conditions in the hospital and the local community. As positivity rates and infections decrease in the community the hospital will impose fewer restrictions on staff and client behavior.
- Staff are expected to self-screen and report any symptoms. All staff are required to wear surgical masks while in the building, and clients are strongly encouraged to as well. If a living area is quarantined due to high rates of infection then staff will be provided with N95 masks and must wear them on the quarantined living areas. All staff will be tested with rapid testing at least weekly and those who are unvaccinated will be tested with PCR on a periodic basis. Staff are not required to be vaccinated at this time. Surgical Masks are provided to staff daily.
- Depending on the phase, clinicians and direct care staff may be limited to working with clients on a specific living area. Group/Activities across living areas will be modified depending on the phase the hospital is in.
- Some meetings are occurring via phone and video conferencing. This includes some client meetings, including treatment teams and medication re-writes.
For future intern classes we will continue to tailor our training site to the recommendations of the public health organizations for facilities like ours, while still maintaining clinical training that provides challenging opportunities. We discuss the relevant issues regularly with our current interns and staff and specifically offer an opportunity to address any anxiety they may be experiencing about both how to stay safe and continue to gain clinical experiences.