As the surge of patients with COVID-19 approaches the mid-Atlantic region, Kaiser Permanente is making significant changes to help the health system and the community prepare. The health system today announced several changes to how it will provide health care services to the increasing number of people with COVID-19 as well as to people with other health conditions that require care during the pandemic.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has already led Kaiser Permanente to vastly expand its virtual care services across the region. The health system is converting all possible in-person appointments to virtual (phone or video). Over the past several weeks, Kaiser Permanente’s mid-Atlantic region has increased virtual appointments from 19% at the beginning of March to more than 85% at the end of the month. The health system is currently providing more
than 9,000 virtual visits daily, allowing its nearly 770,000 members in the region to access physicians and care team members from the safety of their homes. Additionally, non-urgent surgeries and procedures have been postponed for several weeks in another effort to dramatically decrease visits to its facilities.
Kaiser Permanente is also working to prepare for the region’s surge of patients by planning space in several facilities to care for patients requiring medical observation. Separate space will be created for COVID-19 and nonCOVID-19 patients.
Fourteen Kaiser Permanente medical office buildings will remain open in these locations, several with 24/7 access:
-In Virginia: Tysons Corner (24/7), Woodbridge (24/7), Reston, Manassas (no urgent care), Fredericksburg (no urgent care), Burke and Falls Church
-In Maryland and DC: Capitol Hill (24/7), Largo (24/7), Gaithersburg (24/7) and Kensington (no urgent care), and Kaiser Permanente’s physician offices at Holy Cross Hospital 2
-In Baltimore: South Baltimore (24/7), Woodlawn (no urgent care) and White Marsh
Kaiser Permanente will maintain only lab, pharmacy and imaging services at the following locations beginning on Monday, April 6. All other departments in these buildings will be temporarily closed:
-In Virginia: Colonial Forge, Springfield, Alexandria, Ashburn, Haymarket Crossroads and Fair Oaks
-In Maryland and DC: Camp Springs, Frederick, Marlow Heights, Northwest, Prince George’s, Silver Spring and Shady Grove
-In Baltimore: Abingdon, Annapolis, Baltimore Harbor, North Arundel, Towson, Columbia Gateway. Kaiser Permanente’s Nottingham physical therapy and the physician offices at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center will also temporarily close.
Please click here to read Kaiser Permanente’s entire press statement