Coronavirus Updates
If you are experiencing moderate symptoms of COVID-19 (cough, fever above 100.4, shortness of breath, or dehydration) please contact your GHC-SCW clinic or call NurseConnect at 608-661-7350 or toll free 855-661-7350 to speak with a nurse. Patients with risk factors related to their chronic conditions or other occupational exposures, are encouraged to call sooner with any mild COVID-19 symptoms. Otherwise healthy patients with mild symptoms do not need to be seen in clinic and should stay home. Home care includes: rest, drink fluids, and take fever-reducing medications (Tylenol/Acetaminophen). If you are experiencing severe symptoms or a medical emergency, call 911.
We recommend our members utilize our telehealth and virtual visit services by visiting *GHC Care OnDemand or virtuwell.
*Members with Badgercare, Medicare or HSA-Eligible plans have restrictions or limitations.
All of us at GHC-SCW are working diligently to monitor rapidly changing conditions about the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Our highest priority is the health and well-being of our membership, our staff and our community. Like every organization today, we are following the advice of the Center for Disease and Prevention (CDC) and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) to determine the appropriate adjustments to when, where, and how we work.
COVID-19 Testing Information
Please click here for more information on COVID-19 antibody testing and coverage.
GHC-SCW charges $76 for a COVID-19 Antibody Test (86769) and $299 for a COVID-19 Diagnostic Laboratory Test (87635). Additional services unrelated to the diagnosis and testing for COVID-19 during the same visit may result in additional charges.
What to Expect When Visiting a GHC-SCW Clinic
Please know that we are taking great steps to protect patients in our clinics and that providing safe care for all of our patients has always been our top priority. Patient safety and care has driven many GHC-SCW operational changes in the last two months. As we move toward resuming additional appointment types to care for patients' vital health care needs, we want GHC-SCW members to be aware of the changes they will see as they return to our clinics. Some of the measures implemented to ensure patient safety include:
STANDARD
ACCESS CLINIC SYMPTOM SCREENING
We screen all members and employees who enter the buildings for COVID-19 symptoms. If you have an appointment, lab work or are picking up prescriptions at a Standard Care Clinic, please note that you, your children and any support people will be screened for respiratory illness and fever symptoms before entering. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
REQUIRED
FACE-COVERINGS
Starting Monday, May 4, 2020, GHC-SCW will require all staff, patients and support people to wear face-coverings when visiting a GHC-SCW clinic. Please know that we have limited personal protective equipment (PPE), therefore we ask that you bring your own face-covering or mask, if possible. If you do not have a face-covering or mask, one will be provided to you. *Face coverings should not be placed on children aged 2 and under, anyone with trouble breathing, or who is otherwise unable to remove their face covering without assistance.
PATIENT
GLOVES NOT RECOMMENDED
We kindly ask that members do not wear gloves into our GHC-SCW clinics. Members will be asked to remove their gloves before proceeding to their scheduled appointment. This handout from Association for Professionals in Infection Control (APIC) explains the risks associated with glove use in public places. Read more.
New Temporary Clinic Services and Hours
Protecting the health and safety of our membership and staff is a top priority. We will be adapting alternate standards of care in response to this outbreak.
HATCHERY HILL CLINIC WEEKEND HOURS
Hatchery Hill Clinic will temporarily become our Standard Access Urgent Care Clinic on the weekends and we are coordinating hours for patients without respiratory illness to be seen for urgent care needs. All members wanting to make an appointment will need to call GHC NurseConnect prior to visiting Hatchery Hill Clinic. This clinic will only see non-respiratory illness patients. Some appointments will be initially scheduled as telephone consults with a provider before an in-person visit is scheduled. We hope this change will help keep our non-respiratory illness patients safe from COVID-19, while also addressing their urgent care needs.
CAPITOL CLINIC
Patients with respiratory illness symptoms are able to seek care at our Capitol Clinic and Capitol Clinic Urgent Care. Patients with urgent medical needs or who are experiencing moderate respiratory symptoms are encouraged to call GHC NurseConnect to schedule an appointment. Patients with mild respiratory illness symptoms are encouraged to stay home and check our website for home care instructions. People experiencing severe symptoms should call 911 or go to the Emergency Room.
CHIROPRACTIC CARE AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE SERVICES AND CLASSES
With the extension of Safer at Home we will be suspending chiropractic and comp med services through the end of May. Complementary Medicine schedules have not been released for June or July. We will wait to release the schedule until we have an official date for restoration of services. Click here for the latest information about our Complementry Medicine services.
MENTAL HEALTH AND CLINICAL HEALTH SERVICES
Appointments in GHC-SCW Mental Health Services and Clinical Health Education are being completed by telephone.
PHARMACY
As of Wednesday March 18th, Capitol Clinic Pharmacy will be closed to the public until further notice as we will be directing potential COIVD-19 patients only to that location. In an effort to protect our patients and employees, GHC Hatchery Hill and Sauk Trails Pharmacies are offering FREE MAIL DELIVERY AND CURBSIDE PICKUP for prescriptions for patients for the duration of the outbreak.
We strongly encourage you not to walk into our clinics or pharmacies unless you are there for an appointment. Please make every effort to use our Mail Service, or if your prescriptions cannot be mailed we will offer Curbside Pickup.
To set up mail or curbside delivery please call the Hatchery Hill Pharmacy at 608-661-7220 or the Sauk Trails Pharmacy at 608-831-1773.
PREGNANCY CARE
Effective immediately, GHC-SCW will temporarily be changing our model of obstetric care in our clinics as well as at UnityPoint Health-Meriter hospital. Members of our Family Medicine with Obstetrics group will be rotating through UnityPoint Health-Meriter to provide labor and delivery management. We will also have a rotating model of care in the clinics for routine prenatal visits, postpartum maternal and newborn care. This means that members will likely be seeing more than one provider for their prenatal care and the on-call provider for their delivery. During this time, some prenatal visits may be conducted by telephone or video conferencing and access to in-person appointments will be limited to only essential services. More information can be found here.
PHYSICAL AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
The Physical and Occupational Therapy Department is OPEN. Patients deemed essential by their physical therapist are being seen in clinic. In addition we are providing alternatives via video or telephone.
You can directly access therapy services for most musculoskeletal conditions without a physician’s order. If your condition does require a physician order or visit, a staff member will help coordinate this with you.
If you would like to schedule an appointment with a PT/OT provider, please call (608) 662-5060 and a staff member will help determine which type of visit type may be best for you.
CLOSED CLINIC SITES
We have temporarily closed our DeForest Clinic, Regent Mental Health site and our Complementary Medicine Central site. We will reopen these sites in the future. Health Information Management (HIM) Department is closing the Request of Information (ROI) pickup window at East Clinic until further notice.
All other clinic site locations remain open and will see patients without COVID-19 symptoms (fever, cough, or shortness of breath) for essential appointments. All people who walk through our doors will be screened for respiratory illness and fever symptoms. This includes patients visiting our pharmacy or lab services. If a person screens positive for respiratory illness or fever symptoms, they will kindly be asked to return home, to reschedule their appointment, or to contact one of the following medical evaluation methods:
GHC NurseConnect: 608-661-7350 or toll free 855-661-7350
Capitol Clinic Appointment Scheduling: 608-257-9700
GHC Care OnDemand - Telehealth
Virtuwell - Virtual Visit
If a person screens negative for COVID-19 related symptoms, they will be permitted to enter the clinic for their essential service appointment. The intention of this patient screening is to maintain a safe place to provide and receive care while minimizing community spread of COVID-19.
PROVIDER PHONE VISITS
Providers may contact you via a “No Caller ID” line. Please pick up calls at or around your Telephone Visit appointment time even if “No Caller ID” is listed.”
Virtual and Phone Care Options
GHC MyChart
To appropriately triage all members prior to appointment scheduling, we are temporarily suspending the use of routine office visit MyChart scheduling for appointments that need to take place within 7 days.
Virtual Appointments
Our members can utilize our telehealth and virtual visit services by visiting *GHC Care OnDemand or virtuwell. *Members with Badgercare, Medicare or HSA-Eligible plans have restrictions or limitations.
There are no antiviral medications to treat Coronavirus (COVID-19) and treatment recommendations include:
Stay home, Rest, Drink fluids and Take fever-reducing medications (Tylenol/Acetaminophen).
At GHC-SCW, we have an amazing and talented group of people working on the front lines of our clinics and call centers. Our leadership team is working diligently to keep everyone informed on these developing changes.
Additional Patient Resources
In the face of growing medical necessity, innovation is needed to keep both providers and patients safe. We are so proud of our Chief of Staff Dr. Alison Craig for inventing a sustainable way to allow COVID-19 testing to be administered without needing as much personal protective equipment. This equipment such as gowns, head covers, masks, and shoe covers are in great demand and under global shortage. These items are necessary to keep providers safe enough to do their jobs. It is staff like Alison that we are celebrating during this time as we lean on all medical professionals who are willing to risk their own well-being to keep us healthy.
Thank you for your continued patience while we work to keep our membership healthy and safe. We truly are BETTER TOGETHER.
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