When COVID testing began, St. Croix Health (SCH) responded with drive-through testing at its St. Croix Falls location. The first version of the drive-through was held outdoors to help prevent exposure to staff and other patients. As weather became a challenge, the drive-through added the capability for patients to be tested and screened indoors in a sectioned off area of the hospital. The demand to address a more long-term response to this type of testing became obvious. To respond to this need, SCH planned, built, and opened the Respiratory Illness Clinic on the St. Croix Falls campus to replace the drive-through. The Respiratory Illness Clinic offers patients a safe place to be seen for symptoms including fever, cough, sore throat, congestion, muscle/body aches, runny nose, loss of smell, and fatigue; symptoms associated with COVID, but also other highly contagious viruses.
The Respiratory Clinic opened its doors in November 2020, offering a separate entrance for patients experiencing virus and flu-like symptoms to limit exposure. It has a separate air handling system independent of the rest of the St. Croix Falls Clinic to restrict any airborne illnesses from being transported throughout the building. Success in this effort has been outstanding, and we are inquiring about expansion.
Pulse oximeters were given to patients to take home after COVID diagnosis so that they could better monitor their O2 stats. St. Croix Health also purchased iPads and implemented their use for patients to communicate with their families during COVID precautions.
St. Croix Health remains committed to helping protect staff, patients, and the community from the spread of COVID-19. The spread of COVID in our community was high for a significant portion of our calendar year. We continued to educate the people in our area about the best tools for reducing the spread of COVID.
From July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022:
- The laboratory reported out 1,270,465 lab results in addition to the COVID tests.
- 10,248 COVID Specimens were processed at St. Croix Health Lab
- 4,580 COVID specimens processed by St. Croix Health staff and sent to external labs
- 6,353 COVID Antigen Tests done at SCRMC Lab
- 682 Monoclonal Antibody Treatments
- 43 COVID Oral Therapies
- 6,886 Vaccines