GEORGE NEWS - Covid patients at George Hospital may not be able to receive visitors at present, but they are nevertheless looking forward to daily visits. This is thanks to the use of tablets, connected to WhatsApp for voice and video calls, shared between patients in the Covid wards.
George Hospital welcomed the resumption of 'virtual visiting times' on Friday 9 July to allow Covid-19 patients to stay in touch with their loved ones during their journey to recovery.
One of the toughest aspects of hospitalisation for patients and their families at this time is the necessary restriction on hospital visiting. "Staff understand the importance of visitors for patients' recovery and well-being, but the cancellation of hospital visiting times is necessary from a safety perspective," said George Hospital CEO Michael Vonk.
This inspiring initiative of 'virtual visiting' came as an idea to Enterprise Content Management (ECM) administration clerk, Clint Cornelson, who approached the hospital's head office last year during the second wave to assist with the tablets. For his act of compassion, Clint was nominated as a finalist in the category of Inspirational Support Employee in the recent Western Cape Government 2020 Service Excellence Awards (SEA).
Tablet calls
Members of the public are welcome to contact their loved ones during the stipulated times in the afternoon (14:00 to 15:00) and in the evening (20:00 to 22:00).
"We urge the public to keep in mind that the duration of calls may have to be restricted as there is only one tablet per ward to share between all the patients," said Vonk. "However, we will do our best to accommodate everyone during these visiting times."
The numbers to contact for the respective Covid wards are as follows: Ward A1 (063 799 2092), Ward A2 (072 580 5378) and Covid ICU (078 623 5417).
Take action
Members of the public are urged to be consistent in the preventative actions to help stop the spread of Covid-19. Avoid all unnecessary social gathering and wear your mask in public. Vaccination remains one of our most important defences against severe disease and all those who are eligible are encouraged to register on the Electronic Vaccine Data System (EVDS) to receive the vaccine.
'We bring you the latest George, Garden Route news'
