April 20, 2020
Caring for West Alabama. It’s the mission of University Medical Center, and even more important and meaningful during this COVID-19 pandemic. All of our locations (Tuscaloosa, Northport and Demopolis) are open and are here for you.
Our doctors and other health-care providers are currently seeing existing patients and accepting new patients. UMC can care for your health needs, and the health needs of your family, through services we offer in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, women’s health services, geriatrics, psychiatry and psychology, neurology, sports medicine and nutrition and social work services. We are seeing patients in office visits and via telemedicine and have added evening telemedicine appointments at UMC in Tuscaloosa for your convenience.
Last week, UMC launched a COVID-19 screening and testing program in Livingston, Alabama, in partnership with The University of Alabama’s Office for Research and Economic Development, Alabama Power and the Livingston Mayor’s Office.
Livingston is located in Alabama ‘s Black Belt region, where there is limited access to COVID-19 screening, so we believed it was important to put some of our resources there. Screening and testing will be available on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 am to noon, at the JAYCEE Park, and health insurance is not required.
During the April 16 launch of the program, 69 people were screened for COVID-19 and 27 people were tested. My hope is that we can expand screening and testing to other communities in the Black Belt as more screening supplies and testing become available.
This week, UMC has begun offering mental health care services, at no cost, to first responders who are on the front lines caring for our community. While many people are doing their part and following stay-at-home orders, that’s not an option for paramedics, police officers and firefighters who continue to respond to emergencies, not knowing if those they will come in contact with might have COVID-19.
The first-responder services will include individual therapy sessions and group therapy sessions and will be conducted via telemedicine. To schedule an appointment for an individual or group session, email acru@ua.edu.
In addition, resident physicians in our UA Family Medicine Residency are volunteering at COVID-19 screening and testing sites in Livingston and at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa. And, we are continuing our UMC Town Halls to provide West Alabama with important updates about COVID-19, as well as factual information and resources from UMC health experts. The virtual town halls take place every Friday at 2 pm on UMC’s Facebook page and are hosted by Dr. Tom Weida, chief medical officer at UMC. There is a different UMC physician guest each week, and patients and community members can submit their questions online before and during the town halls.
We believe it is vitally important, especially during this time, for UMC to continue to provide the high-quality and compassionate care it always has to our patients and the community.
Know that we are here for you, and that we are caring for West Alabama.
University Medical Center is operated by the College of Community Health Sciences.
