COVID-19 Updates

The Patton State Hospital psychology training programs are committed to providing a safe training experience while serving our patient population during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have made many modifications to our training programs and to the delivery of services during the pandemic to balance safety, training needs, and patient care. Below is a list of the primary modifications to the training experience implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• All staff are required to have completed the initial two-part vaccination protocol for COVID-19. This includes interns, postdoctoral fellows, and practicum students. Incoming trainees are required to be fully vaccinated prior to beginning the training program. The current COVID-19 booster vaccine is highly recommended.
• All employees who work in patient areas receive COVID antigen testing daily.
• All employees who do not work in patient areas receive COVID PCR testing twice weekly.
• Employees who are determined to have a close exposure to someone who is COVID positive receive PCR testing and self-quarantine pending results of the PCR tests.
• All employees are temperature screened before entering the facility each day.
• Trainees are provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) including N95 respirators, face shields, and surgical masks for use when providing direct treatment and assessment services. Trainees receive formal fit-testing and training for the proper use of N95 masks.
• High strength peroxide wipes are provided for sanitizing offices, testing equipment, etc.
• All employees are mandated to wear surgical masks whenever in common areas on campus (trainees are provided with N95 respirators for work on quarantine or isolation units).
• Many off-unit centralized groups have been replaced by smaller on-unit patient meetings (individual meetings or small socially distanced groups with 2 to 3 patients).
• Some services are provided outdoors when weather and space permit.
• Interviews for our training programs are conducted over videoconference (Webex) to reduce the cost to applicants of applying to Patton. This also reduces potential exposure due to travelling to interviews