December 22, 2021
To our FHW Patient Families & Caregivers,
As you’ve likely already heard in the news, the omicron variant of COVID-19 is spreading rapidly throughout the country. Though there has not yet been a case identified in Mesa County, we all anticipate hearing about one soon. To continue achieving the FHW mission of providing the best care in the safest environment for our patients and staff, and due to the highly contagious nature of the omicron variant, changes will have to be made both internally and externally to mitigate the potential staffing shortages and patient surges currently being seen in neighboring communities.
We understand the importance of family visits to the healing process of our patients. Unfortunately, visitation guidelines will have to be adjusted. The fact that Christmas is right around the corner is not lost on anyone. While this communication isn’t full of holiday cheer, it is meant to proactively set the expectations for in-person visitations for the next few weeks.
We anticipate having a detailed plan in place for hospital visitation by December 23, 2021, but want everyone to know in advance that that plan is likely to strictly limit visitations, even over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, with very few exceptions. This change will not be made lightly, and the gravity of this decision and its implementation is completely in an effort to keep our patients healthy and allow them to return home at the end of their necessary stay with FHW. Gambling with this virus is not something FHW is willing to do when patient and staff safety is at stake.
We are grateful for your grace and understanding as we navigate this ever-changing situation. We encourage you to connect with us directly for information related to patient visitation and specific details about Family Health West and to be mindful of future communication from FHW. Our patient liaison, Errol Snider, can be reached at 970-260-1110 or [email protected]. This information and future updates impacting the public can be found in multiple places, including the front of our hospital, on our website (www.fhw.org), on our Facebook account- Family Health West, and through our local media.
We truly look forward to the future communication and day when visitation with our patients is no longer restricted.
Kindly,
Dr. Korrey Klein, Lori Randall, Dr. Christopher Taggart, and FHW leadership
