“Clearwater Valley Hospital was originally constructed in 1956 and no major renovations have been made to the hospital section since then,” says Chris Steiner, Maintenance Manager, CVHC. “This presents many of its own unique challenges in terms of space for patients, HVAC issues, ADA compliance, etc. These issues have only been amplified since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Clearwater Valley Hospital recently received grant funding from the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund. The CARES Act Provider Relief Fund is through the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). The Provider Relief Funds supports healthcare providers and facilities in the battle against the COVID-19 outbreak.

“With the funding we are receiving through HHS, we will be able to make several updates to our facilities that will accommodate patient treatment practices to prevent, prepare for, or respond to the coronavirus,” says Lenne Bonner, CEO, CVHC. “The remodel will specifically help us provide more isolation space to care for COVID patients in our own communities.”

Steiner reports that the renovations will add bathrooms to inpatient rooms so that “4 patients will no longer have to share one bathroom. This will obviously help with infection control and provides our patients more privacy as well.”

In addition to the added bathrooms, an update to the HVAC system will occur that will help with noise control, provide all inpatient rooms with negative air pressure (a necessary feature to prevent spread of all infections, including COVID-19) and each room will have its own climate control.

The current nursery will be turned into a private inpatient room with toilet/sink to add an extra inpatient bed.  A second shower will be added so that isolated patients can be kept separate from non-isolation patients.  “This project will leave 12 private rooms with private toilets and sinks and 4 additional rooms with semi-private accommodations when needed,” says Steiner “This remodel will allow for us to care for up to 16 COVID patients at one time.”

“Since this is grant funded, there is obviously some time constraints, putting us on an accelerated timeline,” continues Steiner. “The renovations have already begun and will need to be completed by June 30^th. This is going to take a bit of magic to make it happen, but we are up for the challenge.”

“During a pandemic may not be the ideal time for a remodel with employees who are stressed out, many who are out sick and just the overall challenges COVID-19 has presented us with,” says Steiner. “But, we also have employees who are able to working from home, freeing up some office space to move things into to get them out of the way for our contractors; so in some ways it’s been an advantage. We know that employees are sacrificing a lot right now and we are grateful for their flexibility and willingness to help us make these badly needed improvements.”

“Currently we have had to suspend our Pulmonary Function Testing and Cardiac Rehab program due to the inability to find space that is isolated from exposure in our constrained space,” says Bonner. “We are excited to be able to add an outpatient area that is isolated from possible COVID patients that will include ultrasound, blood draw, stress echo, treadmill and cardiac rehab. This will allow us to continue to offer those much needed outpatient programs that could negatively affect patient outcomes by delaying care if we had to continue postponing them.”

“The patients that need these services are generally more vulnerable so it is even more important to not expose them to possible contaminated areas,” continues Bonner. “We will also add exam rooms to this area for our hospitalist physician to see non respiratory clinic patients during their shifts.   This will enable us to continue patient care while preventing the spread of COVID.”

“We are excited to be able to make these changes that will help us to better care for our patients with and without COVID-19,” says Steiner. “We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding during this time.”