Zero COVID: Union Hospital sees no cases Thursday morning
DOVER (WJER) (March 31, 2022) – Cleveland Clinic Union Hospital Thursday morning had no COVID-19 patients for the first time in more than two years.
Hospital Spokesperson Darrin Lautenschleger says Union admitted its first inpatient with COVID-19 on March 14, 2020, and had a high mark of 51 inpatients in December 2020.
That number was zero Thursday morning. And there were no caregivers off work due to COVID.
“Today is really zeroes across the board which is a really grateful thing for all of us,” he said. “That means that we have no patients with COVID who are being treated in the hospital and none of our caregivers are either off work because they have COVID or are even awaiting a test result. So it’s completely COVID-free at this moment, and we hope we can start a new streak for a significant period of time here.”
Lautenschleger says with COVID cases down, caregivers are free to provide other services. At times during the pandemic, the hospital paused elective surgeries and other procedures.
“We’re really encouraging people to stop and think about their own health care over the past couple of years,” he said. “It’s very likely they may have delayed or had to cancel appointments, procedures and screenings. This is an opportune time to get back at those regular health care activities.”
Hospital officials don’t think they’ve seen their last COVID patient, so they’re not letting their guard down. Lautenschleger says they still require visitors and patients to wear masks and encourage COVID-19 vaccination.