News : Virginia Gay Hospital to continue masking protocols

Virginia Gay Hospital will not be making any changes in our patient screening, masking or visitation protocols in response to the enhanced public health measures effective Feb 7th through March 7, 2021. In keeping with a commitment to patient safety, we will continue to follow CDC and IDPH guidelines. While we have seen hospitalization numbers decrease, visitation in Nursing & Rehab is not allowed if the county positivity rate is 10% or above. This also affects the testing frequency of staff.

Vaccine distribution is also slow going. The county is receiving about 300-400 doses per week since the beginning of Phase 1b. This amount is expected to be divided between the target groups: PK-12 school staff, first responders, etc. and persons 65 years and older. According to the 2019 estimated census, Benton County has almost 4900 persons over 65 years of age in the county. While Public Health is working with other community partners, clinics, and pharmacies, we ask for your patience as the supply is limited.

We do encourage residents wanting to receive the vaccine to contact multiple vaccine clinics to increase the chance of receiving a vaccine. Black Hawk and Linn county have many larger pharmacy chains, such as CVS, Walgreens and HyVee, which are getting additional vaccine directly from the federal government. You can check this information at www.coronavirus.iowa.gov,vaccine provider information- which lists providers by county. We understand your frustration and we doing the best we can with limited resources