Andrew Bair, chief executive officer at the Ellsworth County Medical Center, had some good news during the April 9 meeting of the county’s local emergency planning committee.

He said two new things are beginning to be started at the hospital. First, televisits between patients and physicians will be available using Face Time. Second, curbside visits will soon be available between patients and physicians.

“It’s something kind of between the Face Time and actually coming into the clinic,” he said. “We’re setting up a spot where we can evaluate someone.”

Bair said that location is the garage behind the clinic. One patient at a time will be served.

In other business:

• Bair advised the agencies involved in the LEPC to be care ful with their personal protective equipment, because someone recently took several protective masks located at the front entrance of the hospital.

Bair said during the week, an employee is stationed at the front entrance of the hospital to screen everybody entering the facility. The masks are available in the vestibule there for those who need them. On the weekend, the front entrance is locked.

However, the vestibule is open. The masks were in the vestibule when they were taken.

“I can’t believe we did that,” Bair said. “Someone was just not thinking things through and gave someone the opportunity to misbehave.”

Ellsworth Police Chief Emil Halfhill said he knows who the suspect is because their image was captured on the hospital’s video surveillance camera.

Halfhill asked Bair if the hospital wished to press charges for theft.

“That’s all we’re waiting on,” Halfhill said.

“I think it’s a big deal,” Bair said, adding he would talk to Halfhill later about whether to file charges.

• Kerianne Ehrlich, supervisor of the county health department, said even though the county burn ban has been rescinded, she encouraged each member of the LEPC to do their part to strongly discourage burning at this time.

Ehrlich said burning has a negative effect on those who are asthmatic or who have allergies.

“This is not helping our case at all,” she said. “I can’t argue the facts that have already been made, but I can at least educate and discourage it from being done.”

• Ehrlich said Kansas has 1,376 positive cases of COVID-19. There have been 12,488 negative tests. Approximately 309 patients with COVID-19 in Kansas are hospitalized, and there have been 62 deaths.

Ehrlich said April 8 was the largest jump state officials have seen in numbers of positive cases since the COVID-19 crisis began. She said the highest amount of COVID-19 cases in Kansas are in those persons aged 45-64. She said an infant in Republic County has tested positive for COVID-19.

• Ehrlich said COVID-19 testing supplies are still an issue for both Kansas and the United States as a whole.

She said state health officials introduced new guidelines regarding symptoms that a person should stay at home with. These include increased fatigue, increased weakness, sore throat, nausea, vomiting. “Pretty well any symptom,” she

“Pretty well any symptom,” she said.

Ehrlich said she has been notified Ellsworth County will receive funds from the government for COVID-19 expenses. She doesn’t know the exact dollar amount, however.

“I don’t think it’s going to cover all of our costs, but I guess at least it helps with something,” she said.

• Ehrlich said the KDHE is contacting all counties in Kansas which have a correctional facility, because state officials are working on a strategic plan to make sure those counties are ready if a COVID-19 outbreak were to hit the correctional facility.

“They asked me what my barriers were to that and I said basically we have no testing supplies for the health department to do that,” she said.

As such, state officials are looking at sending Ehrlich some test kits to do COVID-19 testing on correctional facility staff members. She said if Ellsworth Correctional Facility were to have an outbreak of COVID-19, the state would take over the investigation of the actual inmate involved, but the county health department would investigate those coming in the facility, such as staff members.

“It would be a joint effort between KDHE and our health department,” she added.

Members of the LEPC plan to continue meeting on a weekly basis while the COVID-19 crisis continues.

"It’s something kind of between the Face Time and actually coming into the clinic."

Andrew Bair

ECMC chief executive officer