SHERIDAN — Sheridan Memorial Hospital is seeking help in furnishing additional face masks for patients of the hospital.

SMH continues to maintain readiness to care for the community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Ensuring that SMH has the necessary personal protective equipment and taking the necessary precautions to keep patients and visitors safe remains a top priority.

The hospital continues to work with county, state and Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to follow proper protocols and preparations as things change, but it is the cooperation and care shown by community members that continues to motivate employees to meet its mission.

To date, almost 7,000 masks and personal protective equipment items have been donated to SMH. The majority of the donated homemade masks have been provided to patients to keep and use as they move about the community.

To maintain a healthy inventory of PPE, SMH constantly reviews their processes and updates them as needed. These processes include:

• Upon entering an SMH facility, all patients, visitors and employees are screened and required to wear a face covering.

• Patients and visitors are asked to bring their own face covering from home (mask, bandana, scarf, etc.). If they don’t have one with them, one will be provided for the duration of their appointment. It will then be collected, laundered and re-issued. Used face covering bins are located at each entrance.

• SMH employees will launder and reuse their own masks daily.

Kennon Products of Sheridan, a proud partner of The Hospital Foundation, is manufacturing mask kits that include both fabric and elastic materials to make 10 homemade masks for SMH patients, visitors and staff not in direct patient contact. If you are willing to pick up one or more of these kits to sew and bring back to the hospital, please contact Jasmine Slater at jasmineslater@sheridanhospital.org or 307-675-2620 to set up curbside pick-up of these kits.

“We understand this is a fluid situation and we are working hard to be proactive,” said Dr. John Addlesperger, SMH chief medical officer. “We can’t thank our community enough for giving of their time, effort and resources.”

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