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| Anna Foust, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics, walks through University Hospital with USA College of Medicine medical students Kaitlin Ervin, Kendal Dekle, Erin Schmale and Jordan Matthews Smith. |
USA Health announced the policy April 3 in a letter to employees from Owen Bailey, chief executive officer for USA Health, and John V. Marymont, M.D., vice president for medical affairs and dean of the University of South Alabama College of Medicine.
“While wearing a mask when we are in contact with others, we can prevent transmission of the virus. We are also protecting ourselves from becoming infected by someone else,” said Benjamin Estrada, M.D., professor of pediatrics at the USA College of Medicine and a pediatric infectious diseases physician at USA Health.
The USA Health policy, which was updated in May, offers these specifics:
- Masks are required for all staff at all times while in a USA Health facility. This includes contract employees, delivery persons, vendors, etc.
- Masks may be either hospital supplied or privately owned. Privately owned masks NEVER take the place of hospital-approved PPE when caring for patients on any isolation ward.
- Hospital masks will be supplied by your supervisor and can be worn for seven days or until soiled or damaged.
- Guidelines on privately owned masks were published on the USA Health COVID-19 website on April 1, 2020. The guidelines state that cloth masks decrease the risk of droplet transmission to others from the person wearing them, but have minimal effect in preventing inhalation of micro droplets present in the surrounding environment. The guidelines also state that no Joint Commission standards or other requirements prohibit staff from using PPE brought from home.
- Privately owned masks must be removed and stored prior to donning appropriate hospital-supplied PPE for isolation patients.
