A Letter from Leadership to the MUSC Family

Dear MUSC Family,

Late yesterday afternoon, an enterprise-wide committee of experts convened at a recurring meeting focused on developing guidelines, protocols and policies designed to keep our faculty, staff, students, fellows, residents and visitors as safe as possible as we deal with and prepare for the current and future impacts of COVID-19. The following are MUSC interim policy updates which came out of today’s meeting:

Travel

  • International Travel: MUSC is prohibiting all MUSC-sponsored or affiliated international travel until further notice. This guidance extends the previous travel restrictions issued on March 4, and now includes all university faculty and staff and all MUSC Health employees, in addition to students, residents, and fellows. Government travel restrictions and public health measures are changing rapidly and we will continue to update and reevaluate our travel policies on a frequent and regular basis. (Exceptions to this directive will be granted only in the most rare of circumstances and must be approved by the respective dean, the provost or health system administrator and the International Travel Oversight Committee.)
  • Domestic travel: All out-of-state travel is strongly discouraged for your health and safety, as well as the wellbeing of our patients and community. We strongly encourage you to consider alternative methods to communicate and hold meetings, such as teleconferencing.
  • MUSC travelers returning to campus: Upon return from international or domestic out-of-state travel, whether MUSC-sponsored or personal travel, university faculty, staff, fellows, residents and students and all MUSC Health employees will be required to take the following steps:
  1. Self-monitor for 14 days. Self-monitoring means taking your temperature twice a day and remaining alert for cough or difficulty breathing.
  2. If you experience a fever, cough, difficulty breathing or other respiratory symptoms you must immediately notify your supervisor, leave work or stay at home, and go to the MUSC Health Virtual Care site (muschealth.org/virtual-care) to be further evaluated. It is important to note that you may be required to self-quarantine and/or be tested for the COVID-19 virus before you are cleared to return to work.

Visitors to Campus

MUSC strongly discourages any non-essential visitors from traveling to campus, especially those who have recently traveled from overseas or from an area in the U.S. with widespread transmission. Please convey this recommendation to any international colleagues or potential visitors you may be in contact with who are considering coming to MUSC locations.

Campus Events and Conferences

  • MUSC is suspending all group events whose audiences or attendees include high-risk or vulnerable populations (e.g. seniors, immuno-suppressed or otherwise health compromised individuals) to COVID-19.
  • The university is discouraging, but not prohibiting, all large group campus events with external participants, and urges you to carefully reconsider your plans or to move to a video conferencing format.

International Students and Scholars

Consider postponing the start date for any new international students and scholars.

As a reminder of a previous university message regarding COVID-19, due to the recent presumptive cases of COVID-19 in S.C, and Charleston involving one of our employees, all patients, employees and students who are symptomatic (respiratory infection, fever, cough, flu-like symptoms), should visit MUSC Health Virtual Care (muschealth.org/virtual-care) for screening and medical advice from a trained MUSC Health care provider.

This secure, virtual care option will help with infection prevention and control, while also allowing patients to receive care without exposing themselves or others to further sickness in the hospital setting.

We have developed this additional methodology based on the CDC recommendations to our telehealth platform based on known exposure or travel to affected areas. Referral for testing for those at high risk or those sick enough to need inpatient care will be determined based on the consultation. MUSC Health virtual urgent care is free to all MUSC staff, students, faculty members, and their dependents, as well as state employees covered under PEBA. We are additionally offering free consultations and screenings to anyone experiencing COVID-19-like symptoms located in South Carolina with the promo code COVID19, for both new and existing patients.

Please share this important information with family, neighbors and friends who may be experiencing symptoms.

Thank you,

Lisa K. Saladin, PT, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost

Lisa P. Montgomery
Executive Vice President for Finance and Operations, MUSC

Patrick J. Cawley, M.D.
CEO, MUSC Health and Vice President for Health Affairs, University