The Health Museum to Close Temporarily Starting Today

John P. McGovern Museum of Health and Medical Science announced today that it will temporarily close starting tomorrow, March 17, through Sunday, March 29, 2020, to support Houston and the nation's effort to contain the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). The Health Museum - located at 1515 Hermann Drive, Houston, Texas 77004 - reached this decision in an abundance of caution in response to the newly-updated guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other experts regarding gatherings of more than 50 people.

Leadership at The Health Museum continues to evaluate the situation on a day-to-day basis as it closely monitors coronavirus news and updates from the CDC, local, state, and national authorities. All tours, classes and public events scheduled through March 29, 2020, also are canceled or postponed.

"The safety of our visitors, volunteers, and staff is of the utmost importance, and we have been taking several proactive precautionary measures, implementing rigorous cleaning routines, including discouraging travel to affected areas, asking staff who are sick to stay home, and staying in close communication with health officials. We made this decision in ongoing consultation with public health experts, city and state officials, our peer institutions, and our respective board," stated John Arcidiacono, President and CEO of The Health Museum. "As a member institution of the largest medical center in the world, we want to continue our mission of making the most valuable resources of the Texas Medical Center accessible to all during this critical time. While our physical location will be closed temporarily, we are creating online wellness and health programming in an effort to remain engaged with our community."

As a result of coronavirus, to date, The Health Museum has been following the CDC guidelines for cleaning and disinfecting its facility and classrooms; increased the number of janitorial staff who help to keep the museum clean; increased the number of times all surfaces including doorknobs and common touch points are wiped down throughout the day; thoroughly disinfected bathrooms; encouraged proper hand washing throughout the day with a fun hand-washing activity during last week's spring break camps; increased ventilation measures throughout the museum; and continued to actively monitor staff travel plans and to reinforce its policy of not working with fever, cough, or when feeling under the weather.

The Health Museum also hosted a livestreamed Q&A discussion with experts from UTMB and Harris County Public Health where viewers had the opportunity to have their most pressing questions about the coronavirus answered. It is educational programming such as this that The Health Museum will be making available via its online and social media platforms during this time.

Guests who have purchased general admission tickets to The Health Museum are asked to consider donating the cost of their purchases to the museum. Questions regarding refunds, cancellations and postponements may be addressed to info@thehealthmuseum.org.

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