July 28, 2020

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Hi Team –

How about that blowout 7-1 home opener win for our Reds last Friday? Although they weren’t able to keep the momentum going over the weekend, it’s still fantastic just to have our great American pastime back, even if we don’t win them all – Go Reds!!     

Expanded Statewide Efforts to Contain the Spread of COVID-19

Since the mandatory facial covering policy was enacted in early July by Cincinnati City Council, we continue to see the R-factor (per person spread rate) decline in Hamilton and surrounding counties. And in recent days, we have begun to see an encouraging decline in inpatient cases at TriHealth – as of yesterday, just 32 COVID-19 positive patients. Given the strong evidence showing that mask-wearing policies work to reduce the virus spread,
Governor DeWine also issued a new statewide face covering mandate for all public areas, which took effect on July 23. This executive order is being supported by a new series of public service educational ads developed by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. Click the screen to view one of the ads. The governor also introduced a travel warning for seven states that are currently experiencing surges in COVID-19 cases. Click the image to the right to learn more about the new travel warning and statewide mask order.

New Eye Protection Protocols Go into Effect on August 3

As I shared last week, CDC has issued new guidance to healthcare providers on use of PPE to further protect healthcare workers from COVID-19 transmission. Accordingly, TriHealth, in collaboration with other area health systems, will be implementing new CDC-recommended eye protection safety measures. The new protocol will go into effect at TriHealth on Monday, August 3, and will require all clinical and non-clinical team members who have direct contact with patients to wear appropriate eye protection during every patient encounter. The eye protection will be provided by TriHealth and consists of disposable masks with built-in eye protection or reusable face shields, goggles or plexiglass screens. Personal eyeglasses are not considered protective eyewear because they lack the required side guards. The disposable eye protection must be discarded daily and the reusable eye protection must be cleaned at least once daily at the end of shift or when soiled. Isolation cleaning protocols must continue to be followed for all isolation patients, including COVID-19 positive or suspected patients. Complete details about the new eyewear protection protocols will be available through your leader and on Bridge later this week.

TriHealth Strengthens Its Board with Two Key Appointments

I’m thrilled to share that at our Annual TriHealth Board Meeting held earlier this year, we made two exciting new appointments! We welcomed Cynthia Booth as a new Board Trustee – one of three African American trustees out of ten appointed board members. We also elected current Board Member, Kathy Kelly, as our first-ever female Board Vice Chair. Kathy will become Board Chair in two years, succeeding Mike Michael when his term ends.

Cynthia Booth is President/CEO and owner of COBCO Enterprises/McDonalds, a privately held company that owns and operates McDonald’s Franchises throughout the greater Cincinnati region. Prior to starting COBCO Enterprises in 2000, she worked for Firstar Bank (currently US Bank), where she was one of the highest-ranking female executives and the only African American serving at an executive level. A Cincinnati native, Cynthia is the recipient of numerous local and national awards for her exceptional civic contributions and business achievements, and has been featured in Fortune Magazine and on “CNN” Money Talks. She currently serves as a member of the Denison University Board of Trustees, as Board Treasurer for the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, and as a member of the Board of Directors of First Financial Bank. Cynthia has had a long-standing connection to TriHealth, beginning as young women working at the receptionist desk at Bethesda Oak during high school and college. Cynthia attended Denison University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and went on to earn a Master of Science degree in Management from Indiana Wesleyan University.

Kathy Kelly has served on the TriHealth Board since June 2019, and on the Bethesda Inc. Board since 2012, where she just completed a two-year term as Board Chair. Kathy is the retired President of Kroger Personal Finance (KPF) for The Kroger Co., based in Cincinnati. Prior to joining Kroger, Kathy served as a Cash Management Officer with Fifth Third Bank.She has been recognized as a “Career Woman of Achievement” by the YWCA, a “Woman of Distinction” by the Girl Scouts of Southwest Ohio, one of McAuley High School’s “Women Who Inspire,” and one of the “100 Wise Women” in Cincinnati. Kathy holds a Master of Business Administration with a Finance concentration from Xavier University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Economics from Miami University.

Two New Wins Affirm TriHealth’s Continued Progress in Getting Healthcare Right

Last week, we learned that Premier Inc. named Good Samaritan Hospital as a recipient of its QUEST Award for High Value Healthcare. The award goes to hospitals that consistently provide outstanding patient care and continually set high standards in clinical excellence. And speaking of clinical excellence, I’m extremely proud to share that due to the international prominence of TriHealth’s Vascular Surgery Program, our very own Dr. Pat Muck, Chief of Vascular Surgery and Director of the Vascular Fellowship and Integrated Residency Program at Good Samaritan was a featured lecturer last week in an educational webinar with more than 17,000 Chinese vascular physicians. Congratulations to Dr. Muck and the Vascular team, as well as all those at Good Samaritan and throughout TriHealth, for achieving these impressive wins resulting from your extraordinary dedication and talents! And THANK YOU, to every TriHealth physician and team member, for helping us Get Healthcare Right by delivering an exceptional care experience to every patient we serve, always!

FY21 Bright Ideas is LIVE!

Get a jump start on the new fiscal year and submit your bright idea now! The Innovation Center is excited to hear the ideas you recently implemented or plan to implement soon. Many innovative ideas have been generated during these trying times, and we look forward to recognizing the creative work of our team members. Learn more about Bright Ideas and the FY20 results here.

Living Our Values Call for Nominations

A friendly reminder, the deadline to nominate team members for the Living Our Values (LOV) Award is fast approaching! The deadline is this Friday, 7/31. The TriHealth Living Our Values Award honors exceptional non-management team members who role model our SERVE values, consistently exhibit ALWAYS Behaviors, and inspire us all in the process.

Do you know of a fellow team member who has done something extraordinary to care for or to help patients or fellow team members? When submitting your nomination, please include a brief compelling story or details to highlight how the team member has exemplified SERVE values. Nominations can be submitted by any TriHealth team member. Click here to submit a LOV nomination.

TriHealth Orthopedic & Sports Institute

On July 27, 2020, TriHealth launched a multi-media campaign supporting our orthopedic service line. Originally planned for Spring 2020, but delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, this campaign is a preference-driving, awareness-generating effort to capture consumers where they spend their time to drive appointment volume and surgeries to our physicians and hospitals. Click here to see the complete set of campaign assets!

Team Member Town Hall

Be sure to catch the next Team Member Town Hall on July 28^th at 12pm on Bridge or Facebook! Or watch the archived video on Bridge here. Topics include COVID-19 updates, back to business highlights, our FY 2021 and beyond strategy, and how TriHealth is Getting Healthcare Right as we learn to co-exist with COVID-19.

Good Samaritan Hospital Earns QUEST Award for High-Value Healthcare

Premier Inc. has named Good Samaritan Hospital as a recipient of a QUEST Award for High-Value Healthcare. The award goes to hospitals that consistently provide outstanding patient care and continually set high standards in clinical excellence.

The Quest Award recognizes hospitals that participate in the QUEST quality improvement collaborative and achieving top performance in all five dimensions of the program, as well as the top performers in six peer groups.

It is designed to recognize top performing hospitals’ success within relevant peer groups that address hospital size and academic status. The six peer group categories are:

• Academic Hospitals
• Critical Access Hospitals
• Council of Teaching Hospitals (COTH) ≥ 75 beds
• COTH < 375 beds
• Non-COTH ≥175 beds
• Non-COTH < 175 beds

Congratulations to the team at Good Samaritan for the daily commitment to improving outcomes of the patients we serve.

I can appreciate TriHealth wanting to protect team members. I have to wonder how many out patient therapists have been infected by covid as we are not taking fluid samples and our patients go through screenings to attend tx. The more we obscure our faces the more we distance ourselves from patients as we try to establish relationships with them to improve their quality of life. I don't feel that one shoe fits all circumstances and we should have the option depending on our work environment if science truly indicates that wearing eye protection is necessary.
Posted by: Peg Ebert on August 03, 2020
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The new eye protection requirement is going to make scanning exceedingly difficult for ultrasonographers. Some team members are already struggling with fogged glasses. We need to keep everyone safe, but we also need to be able to see our screens and equipment clearly. If we can't see our images, then we've undermined any attempt to keep our patients safe.
Posted by: Lisa Holbrook on July 29, 2020
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