Sheridan Memorial Hospital phases in reopening

Sheridan Memorial Hospital is in the second phase of a three-phase plan for reopening.

Many services of the hospital have been shut down or curtailed as part of the response to COVID-19.

But in a report to hospital trustees Wednesday, the hospital’s Chief Operations Officer Nyle Morgan said as of May 18, the Big Horn Heart Center has resumed all normal services and many other areas are at or approaching pre-shutdown levels.

Morgan said Phase 3 of the reopening is yet to come.

He said the hospital’s approach has followed Centers for Disease Control and well as all federal and state guidelines. He said the first phase of the re-opening started on May 1, with an increase at that time in elective surgeries.

He said the three-phase approach was done for several reasons, including to maintain the levels of personal protective equipment in the event of a COVID-19 surge in the middle of re-opening.

He said hospital personnel needed to be sure they could quickly return to having as many beds dedicated to COVID-19 patents as might be needed for a surge.

During the re-opening, he said, the hospital kept its second and third floor surge areas open for that eventuality.