How the Coronavirus is Affecting Vail Health

Vail Health Visitor Policy

As a result of Tuesday’s state of emergency declared by Gov. Polis, a visitor policy will be implemented at Vail Health Hospital and the Vail Valley Surgery Center in Edwards, effective Wednesday, March 11.

To reduce the amount of foot traffic through Vail Health Hospital, only one visitor or caregiver will be permitted into the facility with each patient. This applies to Vail Valley Surgery Center, The Steadman Clinic, Vail-Summit Orthopaedics & Neurosurgery, Howard Head Sports Medicine, the Emergency Department and all other units serviced within the facility. For the Family Birth Center, both parents of the baby will be allowed but no additional visitors.

At the Edwards campus, a similar policy will be instated at Vail Valley Surgery Center, with one visitor accompanying the patient.

“We are implementing this policy to protect our staff and patients by limiting the amount of people and potential COVID-19 exposure within our facility,” said Amanda Veit, Chief Operations Officer at Vail Health.  

Shaw Cancer Center and Edwards Campus Access

Protecting our Shaw Cancer Center patients, who experience weaker immunity to virus and disease because of treatment, against coronavirus (COVID-19) is our top priority at Shaw. With the presumptive positive case in Eagle County, we will be implementing additional precautions and safety measures at the Edwards campus to protect our Shaw patients.

Effective Monday, March 9:

• All patients and visitors will be screened for respiratory illness and exposure history by a trained staff member prior to entering the Shaw building for any reason. Anyone who has respiratory symptoms will be asked to return to their place of residence and call their healthcare provider or Eagle County Public Health. In addition, there will be the following dedicated entrances to the facility:
  • West entrance – Shaw patients only
  • East entrance – Vail Health and Colorado Mountain Medical clinics
  • North entrance – Sonnenalp Breast Imaging Center
• Shaw Café will be open to employees and patients, but closed to the public.  Salad bar services are temporarily discontinued.
• The Pharmacy will be available for curbside pickup, as well as delivery to a patient’s hotel or residence if the patient is experiencing respiratory symptoms or illness.
• The Gift Shop is temporarily closed.
• All Spirit of Survival programming has been temporarily suspended.

Family Birth Center – Classes

Vail Health has cancelled all classes including Baby & Me support group which meets at Shaw Cancer Center. There are no rescheduled dates for any classes at this time. If you have booked a class, you will receive a full refund.

Gypsum Urgent Care Update

Effective Friday, March 6: Gypsum Urgent Care is not currently offering urgent care services. During this time, patients needing urgent care for minor illnesses or injuries should go to the Colorado Mountain Medical clinic in Eagle, 377 Sylvan Lake Rd #210, Eagle, CO, which can be reached by calling 970-926-6340. Colorado Mountain Medical in Eagle will be accepting walk-in and same-day appointments for urgent care services.

Vail Health Hospital Access

As a precautionary measure, effective Friday, March 6: Vail Health will verbally screen all patients and visitors for respiratory illness and travel history prior to entrance into Vail Health Hospital. A trained staff member will screen those entering the facility, and anyone who has respiratory symptoms and is not seeking care in the Emergency Department will be asked to return to their place of residence and call their healthcare provider. Patients with respiratory symptoms or fever who are requesting emergency care will be provided a mask and will be directed through the Emergency Department entrance.

Official COVID-19 Coronavirus Eagle County Resources