PHOENIX (April 2, 2020) – Banner Health is activating triage tents at its acute care hospitals to build capacity for the sickest patients amid the COVID-19 pandemic. These are not COVID-19 specimen collection sites, and they are not for the worried well or those with mild COVID-19 symptoms that can be managed at home.

Banner is reminding the public to continue to stay at home, put space between yourself and others and wash your hands to help flatten the curve of the COVID-19 spread. Even if you have mild symptoms, remaining at home is the best place to be to protect others, particularly our most vulnerable citizens and our health care workers.

If symptoms worsen to include shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, then it is appropriate to seek emergency medical care. At the triage tent sites, Banner staff will greet patients in their personal vehicles upon arrival and perform a preliminary COVID-19 assessment. Appropriate care will follow.

Banner locations with triage tents in place are:

TUCSON

• Banner – University Medical Center Tucson
• Banner – University Medical Center South

METRO PHOENIX

• Banner Desert Medical Center/Cardon Children’s Medical Center
• Banner Estrella Medical Center
• Banner Thunderbird Medical Center

Other Banner hospitals will follow with triage tent activation as demand dictates.

VIDEO: B-Roll of Triage Tents

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND RESOURCES:

• Visit Banner’s COVID-19 webpage for the more information about COVID-19.
• Banner has an online symptom checker for those concerned about their symptoms.

Headquartered in Arizona, Banner Health is one of the largest nonprofit health care systems in the country. The system owns and operates 28 acute-care hospitals, Banner Health Network, Banner – University Medicine, academic and employed physician groups, long-term care centers, outpatient surgery centers and an array of other services; including Banner Urgent Care, family clinics, home care and hospice services, pharmacies and a nursing registry. Banner Health is in six states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com.

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NOTE: Please keep in mind that these triage tents are patient care areas. We request that you respect the privacy of our patients. Please remain off property and do not film at these locations or approach patients as they enter or leave the area. Thank you.