COVID-19 — Milestone Moment

An evaluation tent outside the Emergency Department at Princeton Medical Center (PMC) was dismantled last week, a move that Penn Medicine Princeton Health officials see as an encouraging development in the fight against Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The tent was erected in March as one of many precautions taken by Princeton Health to significantly reduce the risk that patients and staff would be exposed to COVID-19. Patients visiting the Emergency Department who were suspected of having the virus were diverted to the tent for rapid evaluation and testing.

For several weeks in a row, the Emergency Department experienced a sustained, dramatic decline in the number of patients who were confirmed or suspected of having COVID-19. As a result, PMC was able to take down the tent and implement plans to safely evaluate patients inside the building.

Nurses continue to screen individuals before they enter the Emergency Department for a fever and other indications of COVID-19. Anyone with a confirmed or potential COVID-19 infection is moved immediately to a private, designated area within the hospital for further evaluation.