Hilton Head man back from UK fears he has Coronavirus, decries lack of help from hospital | Charlotte Observer

A complaint by an ill Hilton Head Island man that a hospital turned its back on him and left him to figure out the next steps on his own has raised questions about how Beaufort County health providers are handling queries from residents worried about contracting the Coronavirus.

There’s no reason to panic — and no confirmed cases of the virus, or the disease it causes, COVID-19, in South Carolina yet. But as dozens more people are diagnosed across the U.S. daily, officials say it’s when, not if, the virus spreads to the Palmetto state.

Experts say early preparation by health care workers and medical facilities is vital to keeping people calm and informed.

Alan Poulter, 70, says he returned to the island from a trip to the United Kingdom Feb. 26 with a cough and other mild flu-like symptoms, but he didn’t think much about it.

About three days ago, his chest started to rattle when he exhaled.

Then the UK started reporting cases of the Coronavirus, including in London, where Poulter visited for two weeks.

On Wednesday, he called his doctor.

“I told him I didn’t want to come into the waiting room because I didn’t want to get more sick,” Poulter said.

His doctor agreed and asked him to call Hilton Head Hospital for testing.

“I got through to the triage nurse,” Poulter said. “I got halfway through what I was saying, and she interrupted me and said, ‘We don’t test for coronavirus,’ and then she was silent.”

He said he told the nurse that his doctor had instructed him to call the hospital. She responded that the hospital didn’t have any tests.

She said he could come into the hospital to be treated for symptoms.

“What if I got it?” Poulter said he asked the nurse.

“She said, ‘You might just have a cold,” Poulter said. “I said, ‘I might, but what if I have coronavirus?’”

Poulter said the woman gave one-word responses to his questions, and never told him where or how he could be tested.

He said he wants people to know about the way the hospital responded to the possibility of a local having the virus, which does not have a vaccine.

“Somebody at that hospital needs to go down to the emergency room and have words with whoever is picking up the phone for potential patients,” Poulter said.

Hilton Head Hospital officials did not respond to questions about Poulter’s complaint, such as whether the hospital was investigating.

Instead, the hospital provided a statement about its protocol, noting that testing is not done at the facility. The statement said the hospital works with the local health department to determine whether a sample should be gathered for Coronavirus testing and then sent to a CDC-appointed laboratory.

“Our hospital has taken the appropriate steps, and we have trained professionals and the necessary equipment to react accordingly,” Daisy Burroughs said via email Wednesday.

She said that as patients enter the hospital in areas such as the emergency department or registration, hospital staff question their recent travel and ask them to detail symptoms.

“We evaluate symptom criteria and implement contact airborne isolation, if required without delay,” Burroughs said.

The hospital constantly reviews infection prevention processes and updates screening as recommended by the CDC, she said.

What to do if feeling sick with coronavirus symptoms?

As of Wednesday afternoon, 13 people were being monitored for coronavirus in South Carolina, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Area hospitals do not have testing kits available on site, and all testing must be coordinated with DHEC.

At Doctors Care in Bluffton and Beaufort and on Hilton Head Island, a patient with symptoms of coronavirus will be seen by a physician and issued a facemask, according to the urgent care center’s COVID-19 policy. The center will then notify DHEC of the suspected case and arrange for a test.

If the physicians suspect COVID-19, the patient will be sent home to isolation. The center will help coordinate with DHEC to get a CDC-approved test brought to the patient’s home.

Many urgent care centers give this information over the phone and urge people with symptoms to call rather than visit the center because patients cannot be tested there.

The physician at an urgent care center determines whether the patient meets CDC criteria to be tested. That includes:

• People showing symptoms such as fever, coughing and difficulty breathing
• Health care workers or those who have had close contact with a laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patient within 14 days of symptom onset
• People with history of travel from affected geographic areas within 14 days of symptom onset

The Food and Drug Administration authorized testing for COVID-19 in the United States under an emergency use authorization, which expands testing to a wider group of people with symptoms.

DHEC has the capacity to test between 80 and 100 people per day, according to agency spokesperson Laura Renwick.

Beaufort Memorial Hospital is in the first stage of its three-part plan, registered nurse Ashley Hildreth has said. That includes additional screening of hospital visitors, evaluating hospital supplies and retraining employees on equipment protocol.

The hospital has set up an email address, healthupdates@bmhsc.org, to help provide the community with up-to-date, accurate information. Residents can ask questions about symptoms and what steps to take if symptoms arise, and a nurse will respond.

Updates to screening procedures include more questions about travel and possible exposure risks, Hildreth said.

Anyone arriving at the hospital with a sore throat, fever or cough will be given a mask and asked about their 30-day travel history, she said.

If someone has traveled from an area with confirmed cases, that person is brought to a private room.

A hospital infectious worker will ask more questions about travel and possible exposure to infected individuals.

If the worker hears worrisome information, such as a recent trip to Italy, the hospital will contact SCDHEC, Hildreth said.

SCDHEC then will decide whether the case rises to a level for testing.

“Just because you have the symptoms and have traveled, it does not mean that DHEC is going to test you,” Hildreth said. “When you test outside that parameter, you get false positives and you run out of testing supplies.”

Self quarantine

Poulter said he didn’t get the information he needed from Hilton Head Hospital.

“We’ve got a pretty wealthy group of people here (Hilton Head) who travel a lot, and sooner or later it is coming,” Poulter said.

He decided he’d self quarantine with medication he had already purchased to help the symptoms.

“I’m staying away from work,” Poulter said. “I just have to wait it out.”

Do you have questions about the coronavirus? The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette will get the answers for you. Go to bit.ly/virusBeaufortCounty and let us know what you need to know.