Tips: Traveling to Mayo to get medical care safely during COVID-19
Medical needs don’t go dormant and wait for the current pandemic to pass. People still need cancer treatment, heart surgery, diagnostic procedures, joint replacements, lung assessments, wound care and compassionate care. Some medical needs can be met through telemedicine, but certainly not everything.
Postponing nonessential appointments and surgeries in March allowed time to increase Mayo Clinic’s COVID-19 testing capabilities. Mayo Clinic hospital and intensive care capacity meets and exceeds the current projected needs for COVID-19 patients, due to a revised, smaller expected COVID-19 peak. With these important favorable developments, Mayo Clinic is ready to safely treat patients whose care was delayed, in adherence with federal and state executive orders and guidance. Mayo is also welcoming new patients, and able to offer more phone and video visits to new and established patients. Read more about the new precautions Mayo added to minimize risk of COVID-19 transmission.
What can you do to stay safe when:
- Going to the hospital for appointments
- Traveling to a hospital out of your local area
- Staying at a hotel
- Getting food
What are your tips?
@marvinjsturing, It is good to hear that your hospital is taking good care of you. I have only had to have my routine labs drawn during this coronavirus. I was very pleased with how it was handled.
I am scheduled for mid June appointment in Rochester. I am completely confident that Mayo is taking every precaution to make it safe for us. However it is the 750 mile distance from my home to Rochester that has me concerned. I'm not sure how to judge the safety of lodging or restaurants along the way.
I'll let you know how it goes for us although we are coming from the other direction and starting in Kentucky.
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@fiesty76 There you are my girl. Thanks for liking my post. You are a sweety.
Hi @mamacita What is MRSA? I'm suppose to have a swab done for it since I'm having surgery at Mayo.
Bless you and your husband. You have been through a lot. This Covid-19 had really thrown everybody for a loop, if you know what I mean and then having to deal with health problems on top of it.
I liked what you said though, that we are resilient and we are better together. Love to you, Mamacita Jane
Thank you so much for this I will be making a 1300mi trip. Leaving to settle at our summer home for a year. Very helpful. I’ll be with another person albeit a poor driver and perhaps drive straight through and not do the hotel stop. Anything else you can add please do.
I drove from North Carolina to MN with my dog at end of March and here are a few things I did to keep safe on road:
– I packed a bag similar to a diaper bag and had essentials in it: toilet paper, hand sanitizer, disinfect wipes, baby wipes, gloves, paper towels, mask, Kleenex, etc….
– Packed food and water to have along the trip. Did buy some food and coffee at drive thru, but tried to avoid when possible.
– I used gloves when filling up on gas.
– Used credit cards only, avoid handling money.
– Wore mask when ever left car.
– After using rest room and wash hands, would take couple extra paper towels and use to open any doors on way out.
– Used hand sanitizer when ever I got back into car and before took off mask.
Every state was different as far as what was open.
I did stay one night a hotel. I only took into room what was absolutely necessary for night.
Safe travels
Laurie
Hi @lilypaws MRSA, also known as staph, is a bacterial infection. It's highly contagious, so surgeons will generally asked for a swab prior to surgery so they don't risk spreading it to the inner parts of your body when you are in surgery. I attached Mayo's info page on the infection here so you could read more about it. Hope this helps!
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mrsa/symptoms-causes/syc-20375336
Really helpful this travel information. Once on the road was it easier than anticipated? Or less stressful than anticipated?
@elizaba ,
To answer you question if easier then anticipated; it was actually easier then expected. There was less traffic on interstate, no problem finding gas stations open and the states I was in still had rest stops open. It was March so probably less traffic even without virus. I did not make hotel reservations in advance because not sure how many miles I was going to drive in a day. When decided it was time to stop for night, just had to find one that excepted dogs. I already had list of possible hotels in cities along the route. Hotels were not busy so was not worried.
Laurie
Laurie thanks so much for your response. So helpful. Heading towards WI from the east mainly through Penn. So who knows. Happy you and your dog made it there w/o issues. Elizabeth
Good points. If one has to stay in a motel I would look for an outside access instead of going inside.
Where in Minnesota?
@roch, Laurie, these are excellent tips for a driving trip. I'll forward them to my grands who are planning a drive soon to his parents' with their little dog. They live in PA. and I'm sure available conveniences differ from state-to-state. However, these are great regardless of the areas traveled. Thank you for sharing them!
another good idea. Wisc is my destination