Please review the following updates to Aultman’s mask, visitation and screening policies, effective at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023.

Masks

• Recently, Aultman conducted a risk assessment using the most current guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), COVID-19 community transmission levels and state and local hospital-specific data. As a result, in order to best protect our patients, co-workers and community, masks will be required upon entry to all Aultman hospitals, post-acute facilities and outpatient healthcare facilities effective Wednesday, Jan. 11.

• Colleagues, patients and visitors will be required to wear masks at all times in public and patient care areas.

Screening

• All patients, visitors, students, customers, contracted workers, vendors and volunteers entering our facilities will need to self-screen. Please refer to signage at all entrances referring to what is expected of all patients and visitors.
• Patients who are here for an appointment but fail the self-screening will be instructed to wear a mask and go directly to their appointment and notify the department that they failed screening.
• All others who fail the self-screening (visitors, vendors and students) will be instructed to leave the facility.

Visitation

• Visitation will return to pre-COVID policies.
  • At Aultman Hospital, visitation will be permitted 24/7.
  • At Aultman Alliance, visitation will be permitted 24/7.
  • At Aultman Orrville, visitation will be permitted 24/7.
  • At Aultman Post-Acute (Woodlawn) and the Alliance Community Care Center, visitation will be permitted 24/7.
  • For Aultman Specialty Hospital patients, visitation will be permitted from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
  • Akron Children's Pediatric Unit and NICU at Aultman Hospital will follow Akron Children's Hospital's visitation policies. Please click here to learn more. 
• Visitors to patients who are COVID+ must follow safety guidelines specific to those units.
• Volunteer and pet visitation will also return to normal.
• Please note that visitation policies may change at any time if community spread, hospitalization rates or death rates increase. We will notify you if the policies change.

Aultman is proud to provide easy vaccine access for the community with our vaccine clinics. We also offer answers to your most commonly asked vaccine questions. All community members who are 16 and older are eligible to receive the free vaccine, and no registration is required for these clinics. Click here to see the current schedule. 

Aultman Health Foundation offers several COVID-19 vaccination sites throughout Stark and Wayne counties. All appointments can be scheduled via the Ohio Department of Health’s website gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov. Please note: If a provider does not appear in your search results, it means there are currently no available appointments. You are encouraged to check the website regularly for openings.

If you already registered for a vaccine via the Aultman website, a member of our team will contact you. It is not necessary to register a second time through the state’s website. For your vaccine appointment, you must bring a photo ID and insurance card. If you have questions, we encourage you to visit gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov.

COVID & Flu Vaccine Clinics – North Canton
Flu vaccines, as well as COVID-19 Pfizer and Moderna first, second and booster vaccines, are now available at the walk-in vaccine clinic at Aultman North Canton Medical Center for colleagues and the public. 

COVID vaccines are available for patients 12 and older. Flu vaccines are available for those 9 and up.  Please note: all other pediatric patients are encouraged to contact their primary care provider or public health department for vaccines.

The clinic will be open Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., and Saturdays from 8 a.m. – noon. No appointment is necessary. The North Canton clinic is located at 6046 Whipple Ave. NW – entrance C. For questions, please contact the COVID clinic hotline at 330-433-1669.  

Vaccine Exemption Forms 
The CMS mandate, published Nov. 5, 2021, requires all colleagues, contractors, vendors, college students, board members, licensed independent providers, volunteers and other healthcare representatives to be fully vaccinated (both shots of two-dose COVID-19 vaccine, or a single dose of the J&J vaccine), or have an approved medical or religious exemption. To request a religious or medical exemption form, please click the appropriate link below. 

Religious Exemption 
Medical Exemption 

According to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an additional dose of messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines now can be administered to a small group of immunocompromised individuals following completion of a primary mRNA vaccine series. Other fully vaccinated individuals do not need an additional vaccine dose at this time.

The FDA has updated its emergency use authorizations for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to include a recommended third dose for individuals with moderate to severe immunosuppression who are at heightened risk for serious outcomes from COVID-19. This additional dose should be administered at least 28 days following completion of the primary vaccination series. An additional dose is not recommended if you received the Johnson & Johnson single dose.

Individuals who believe they meet the criteria are urged to consult with their healthcare providers to determine next steps. A patient’s clinical team is best positioned to determine the degree of immune system compromise and appropriate timing of vaccination. The CDC has further defined this eligible population to include:

• Individuals undergoing active treatment for cancer (solid tumor and hematologic malignancies). 
• Individuals who have received a solid-organ transplant and are taking immunosuppressive therapy.
• Individuals who have received a CAR-T-cell or hematopoietic stem cell transplant (within two years of transplant or taking immunosuppression therapy).
• Individuals with moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency (e.g., DiGeorge syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome).
• Individuals with advanced or untreated HIV infection. 
• Individuals undergoing active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids (i.e., ≥20mg prednisone or equivalent per day), alkylating agents, antimetabolites, transplant-related immunosuppressive drugs, cancer chemotherapeutic agents classified as severely immunosuppressive, tumor-necrosis (TNF) blockers and other biologic agents that are immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory.

Alongside the additional dose recommendation, the CDC is also recommending the following extra precautions for immunocompromised individuals:

• Wearing a mask.
• Staying six feet apart from others outside their household.
• Avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated indoor spaces.
• Close contacts of immunocompromised people are strongly encouraged to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Please note that these additional doses for immunocompromised persons should not be confused with booster doses. At this time, additional booster doses are not authorized or recommended for any individuals based upon waning immunity over time. The need for and timing of a COVID-19 booster dose have not been established, according to the FDA.

Aultman Health Foundation offers several COVID-19 vaccination sites throughout Stark and Wayne counties. If you have received your primary two-dose regimen and fall into any of the immunocompromised categories listed above, please schedule your third dose vaccination by visiting the Ohio Department of Health’s website at gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov.

If you feel sick with fever, cough or shortness of breath and have recently been in close contact with someone known to have COVID-19, or if you live in or have recently traveled to an area with ongoing spread of COVID-19, call your primary care doctor. 

AultmanNow Urgent Care

Effective Monday, Sept. 20, physician orders are required to receive a COVID test at all AultmanNow Urgent Care locations. 

AultmanNow Urgent Care uses the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, which can find evidence of infection before symptoms arise. This is not the rapid PCR test, and the results will be communicated within 72 hours.

AultmanNow Urgent Care centers are open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and on weekends from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The addresses of our four locations are listed below:

• Aultman North, 6100 Whipple Ave. NW in North Canton 
• Phone: 330-305-6999
• Fax: 330-244-8115
  
  
• Jackson Twp., 7066 Fulton Drive NW in Canton 
• Phone: 330-363-8567 
• Fax: 330-880-5022
  
  
• Washington Square, 2203 E. Maple St. in North Canton 
• Phone: 330-363-8680
• Fax: 234-209-9190
  
  
• Louisville, 506 West Main St. in Louisville 
• Phone: 234-252-9181
• Fax: 234-252-9190

In addition, Aultman is offering COVID-19 testing at both Aultman Alliance Community Hospital and Aultman Orrville Hospital.

• Beginning Monday, Aug. 30, testing will be available at Aultman Alliance Community Hospital's outpatient COVID center, located at 1750 S. Union Ave., from 7 - 9 a.m., Monday through Friday. Patients who wish to receive a test for COVID, must have the order faxed to 330-829-8020. Once the order has been sent, patients will need to call 330-596-7127, Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. to schedule an appointment. 
• Aultman Orrville Hospital, located at 832 S. Main St. in Orrville, offers COVID testing by appointment only. Upon receiving an order from a healthcare professional, the hospital will call the patient to schedule their test.

For a quick, easy-to-follow guide to help you make decisions and seek appropriate medical care, please click here for more information. 

Aultman Medical Group is asking all patients with upcoming appointments who are experiencing cough, fever, sore throat or shortness of breath to please notify their provider’s office before arriving for their appointments. Additionally, if you have recently been in close contact with someone known to have COVID-19 or have recently traveled to an area with an ongoing spread of COVID-19, please contact the office in advance. 

Out of an abundance of caution to provide a greater degree of protection against the spread of COVID-19, we ask that all patients with previously scheduled appointments at an Aultman Medical Group practice arrive at their appointment unaccompanied. If necessary, one support person is permitted to escort each patient to their appointment on an as-needed basis.

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