Weekly Updates From Our Leadership
View weekly updates from our leadership on COVID-19 in Utah, the status of University of Utah Health hospitals and clinics, and any other important trends.
9/23/20 Revised Visitor Policy
The support of friends and family is an important part of healing. Because of the potential spread of COVID-19, we’ve updated our visiting policy to keep everyone safe.
Beginning September 23, 2020, the following Visiting Policy will be in place at all University of Utah Health Hospitals and Clinics, along with Huntsman Cancer Hospital.
General Guidelines:
Patients are welcome to have one (1) person with them in most areas. Click here for more details.
6/26/20 Revised Visitor Policy
Beginning June 26, 2020 the following visitor policy will be in place until further notice at all U of U Health facilities.
PLEASE NOTE: All individuals at U of U Health facilities must be free of COVID-19 symptoms. In addition, all individuals must wear a face covering or mask when entering U of U Health facilities and at all times while inside U of U Health facilities.
General Guidelines
VISITING OR ACCOMPANYING PATIENTS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED in U of U Health inpatient, outpatient, and ancillary facilities (i.e. family, companion, partner, support person, guardian, or caregiver).
For exceptions, please read the full policy here.
6/12/2020 Visiting U of U Health Hospitals and Clinics
For your safety, everyone entering our hospitals and clinics must wear a face covering (mask). This includes patients, visitors, staff and students . Our need to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is high. To do this, wear a face covering, practice physical distancing, wash your hands regularly, and stay home if you are sick.
Temperature screenings will continue at the following locations:
6/5/2020 Accepting Donations of Cloth Masks/Face Masks
We are accepting cloth face covering donations to help reserve proper protected personnel equipment (PPE) for staff who need medical grade masks to protect themselves from COVID-19. We are asking our patients to wear cloth masks for their appointments and visits to our health centers and hospitals.
Donated cloth face coverings will be distributed to U of U Health patients, visitors, and staff to use in a non-clinical setting.
6/2/2020 U of U Health and ARUP Conducting Saliva Testing for COVID-19 Study
Individuals tested for COVID-19 at University of Utah Health’s Redwood Center in-car testing site may now participate in a study that evaluates whether saliva and other specimen types can be effectively used to test for COVID-19. The study is a collaboration between U of U Health and ARUP Laboratories.
5/30/2020 Testing Sites at Sugar House and Redwood Closed, Sunday, May 31st
As a result of the events in downtown Salt Lake City, outdoor COVID-19 testing sites at the Sugar House and Redwood Health Centers will be closed tomorrow, Sunday, May 31st. All other services at these health centers will be open and operational.
All services, including the outdoor COVID-19 testing sites, will be open at the Farmington and South Jordan Health Centers will be open tomorrow.
4/29/2020 U of U Health to Resume Elective Surgeries
Earlier in March, U of U Health announced a deferral in surgical services to help preserve critical resources including personal protective equipment (PPE), respirators and staffing in anticipation of a surge on COVID-19 cases.
The plan to resume elective surgeries comes as COVID-19 cases in Utah appear stable and efforts to conserve and acquire PPE have been more successful than expected.
4/15/2020 New Temperature Checks for Hospital Entry
In response to the continued management of COVID-19 at University of Utah Health, temperature screenings will take place for all patients, visitors, faculty, and staff upon entering University of Utah Hospital.
Temperature screenings have been embedded into U of U Health’s wellness check protocol, which has been in place at all University of Utah Health centers and clinics to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
3/25/2020 Updated Visitor Policy
Effective 3/26/2020
Following guidelines from the CDC and Utah Department of Health, University of Utah Health (U of U Health) is taking aggressive and proactive measures in our hospitals, clinics, and community health centers to better protect patients, visitors, providers, and staff from the potential spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus).
3/23/20 Expanded COVID-19 Testing
University of Utah Health and ARUP announced expanded COVID-19 testing. This expanded community testing is based on ARUP Laboratories’ commitment that as of today, it has sufficient supplies and capacity to perform 1,500 COVID-19 tests daily. ARUP continues to add instrumentation and anticipates having capacity to perform more than 3,000 COVID-19 tests a day as long as it has sufficient supplies.
The expanded testing capability will be delivered at U of U Health’s in-car testing sites located at Sugar House, South Jordan, Farmington and Redwood, and beginning later this week, Park City. This testing capability allows U of U Health to evaluate more individuals with symptoms. Individuals will now have access to this testing regardless of travel or contact history with a diagnosed COVID-19 patient.
3/20/20 In-Car Testing
U of U Health is able to test patients at our in-car testing sites. To be tested, you must exhibit these symptoms: Fever, Cough, Shortness of breath
U of U Health is still asking patients to call the COVID-19 hotline in advance to set an appointment for testing at 801-587-7012 or 844-745-9325 if possible.
3/16/20 Updated Visitor Policy and Postponed Appointments
Beginning Monday, March 16, 2020 the following visitor policy will be in place until further notice at all U of U Health clinical facilities:
- Visitors who are sick are asked to NOT visit.
- Visitors under the age of 18 are asked to NOT visit.
- No visitors or companions will be allowed for patients with confirmed or possible COVID-19.
- Patients are only allowed one (1) visitor or companion at a time
Note: This is at the discretion of clinical teams and visitors may be restricted completely depending on circumstances, or as circumstances change.
Visitors or companions must wash their hands or use alcohol sanitizer before entering and after leaving any U of U Health facility, any patient room and any exam room.
Postponing Non-Emergency Surgical Procedures
At this time U of U Health is postponing any elective surgical procedures at our health centers and hospitals.
We will continue to do:
- emergency,
- urgent, and
- time-sensitive elective surgery.
We are also postponing all other scheduled elective surgeries. We will reschedule these and contact you as soon as we are able.
Rescheduling Non-Essential Appointments
We have also started rescheduling many non-essential appointments. These include any appointments scheduled over the next six weeks at all hospitals and community health centers. We will let you know more details as we are able.
