MercyOne not accepting patients at inpatient hospice unit as more COVID patients require care

(ABC 6 News) – MercyOne North Iowa has temporarily stopped accepting patients at its inpatient hospice unit after seeing an increase in COVID-19 patients and high rates of community transmission.

"While our physicians and care teams continue to provide the best care to the communities we serve, the balance of an increase of patient volumes and our inability to transfer to long-term care facilities has caused us to make some tough choices. Be assured, we are still providing hospice home care to many patients where appropriate. This action allows us to transition hospital nurses and caregiving team members to other units within our hospital to ensure we continue to meet the needs of COVID-19 patients.

This is a temporary situation and we hope to have our inpatient unit back to regular operations very soon."

MercyOne is urging the community to help slow the spread of COVID-19 by getting a vaccine and following COVID-19 precautions.