May 12, 2020

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Hi Team –

Eight weeks into our work to mitigate and now actively manage through the COVID-19 surge in our region, things are finally starting to look up. And, we are deeply grateful to YOU, our more than 12,000 Healthcare Heroes, for playing such a central role in making this progress possible! So this week’s Healthcare & Hospital Appreciation Week could not be better timed – and we could not be more excited or proud to let you know just how thankful we are for all you do!

Celebrating Healthcare Appreciation Week during ordinary times is a big deal, but it takes on a whole new meaning and level of significance in the midst of fighting this unprecedented global health pandemic! And to say our team has stepped up and “risen to this occasion” would be an enormous understatement. I have never – and I mean NEVER – been more inspired or in awe than I have been over the past eight weeks witnessing our team members and physicians in action. From the front lines at the “bedside” to our back-office operations, our entire TriHealth Team has demonstrated an unmatched capacity to serve our patients and community and to CARE – all in the face of unprecedented challenge and uncertainty! Through extraordinary acts of courage, kindness, personal sacrifice, compassion, and expert skill, you demonstrate every single day what it means to live our values, coming together like never before – One Team, One Sacred Mission, One Great Health System! And your TriHealth Family isn’t the only one grateful for your remarkable service. We are joined by thousands in our community and throughout the state who are so proud to recognize and celebrate you and your selfless service. Through signs, donations, letters, gifts, and even flyover salutes – like we received on May 6 from the 180th Fighter Wing of the Ohio Air National Guard – our community can’t do enough to thank you, our frontline healthcare heroes, for all you are doing to fulfill our sacred mission to improve health and save lives during this time of historic need!

Throughout Healthcare Appreciation Week, we’ll be sharing our heartfelt gratitude in many ways, but there’s more to come! We will have a grand celebration in your honor once things stabilize and we return to a new normal later this summer. In the meantime, remember to use our Appreciation Station to thank and recognize fellow team members for notable acts of service, big and small!

Our Reopening – “Back to Business” Updates
The curve of new COVID-19 cases remains flat and easily manageable at TriHealth, throughout our community, and across the state. This further validates that mitigation measures are working and will need to remain in place to sustain this progress and achieve a decline in cases in the coming days – which is especially important now as we advance our plans to safely get back to business. 

We began our phased reopening last week, with early signs that we’re headed in the right direction. Here’s the latest on our progress…

• Ample Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for team members to safely return to work. Thanks to the exceptional efforts of our Supply Chain team, we now have healthy supplies of PPE, ensuring every team member working on-site will be able to do so feeling safe and well protected. This means we will begin to relax some of the previously necessary conservation measures. Starting this week, we will now be able to provide Team Members with a new surgical mask every day, or even more frequently, if needed. The use of PPE will continue to be an essential practice to minimize spread of the virus in our post-pandemic “new normal.” And we are now well prepared – and well stocked – to adhere to this measure for as long as necessary to prevent a second wave of COVID-19 cases in our community.
  
  
• Plans underway to return team members to work. With the phased restart of full clinical operations, including necessary, non-urgent services, we have begun to call back to work those team members whose schedules have been reduced, as clinical activity ramps up. Team members currently working from home or with reduced hours will be hearing from their managers shortly about how these transition plans will impact their current work situation. We are also exploring opportunities for leaders and team members to continue to work remotely after the surge, where possible and practical, and will be issuing guidelines for continued “telecommuting” in the coming weeks. Refer to the COVID Hub on Bridge for more details and support tools coming soon.
  
  
• TriHealth hospitals transition back to welcoming operations. Now that we are confidently able to assess, isolate, and treat potential COVID-19 patients well within current inpatient and ICU capacity, we have transitioned our hospitals back to a more welcoming environment for all. The restrictive signage and barricades – necessary in the early phase of the surge – have been replaced with more friendly and welcoming signage aimed at reassuring patients, family, and visitors we are open, safe, and ready to serve.
  
  
• Easing visitor policy restrictions to allow for more on-site patient support. As we begin to return to full clinical operations, we know patients may continue to be reluctant to seek needed care because they do not want to do so alone, without the support of family members and loved ones. Understanding this very real concern, and with appropriate safety measures now in place, TriHealth initiated discussions with other area health systems to develop a unified, community-wide standard and process for relaxing visitor restrictions to better support and care for our patients. Stay tuned for an update soon on the next phase of visitor guidelines designed for a “new normal” that will include ongoing COVID-19 protection measures.
  
  
• Encouraging first step in our phased return to full clinical operations. On Monday May 4, TriHealth began, once again, providing the full range of elective services, including surgery, procedures and therapy, and testing and screening. I’m pleased to share it was an encouraging first week, showing signs we are on the right track to a gradual return to a new post-pandemic norm of clinical activity, or as some have said, a “new abnormal,” given that we’ll be observing social distancing and mitigation measures for some time to come. TriHealth Physician Partners (TPP) is now nearing 10,000 appointments a week between telemedicine and office visits, higher than surge levels, but still well below what we were experiencing just a few months ago. However, this is still a reassuring sign that patients are feeling safe and less afraid to return to our facilities for on-site care. With respect to surgeries, we were at 30% capacity during the shutdown, and last week, we were up to 50% capacity – signaling a steady upturn in volume that we expect will continue in the weeks to come.

Weekly COVID-19 Communications Calendar

• Monday, May 11 – Friday, May 15:  M-W-F Dr. Joseph video updates available on Bridge
• Tuesday, May 12:  CEO Weekly Update
• Wednesday, May 13 @ 12pm:  Team Member/Physician Town Hall — livestreamed and archived on Facebook and Bridge.
• Friday, May 15 – Weekly COVID Update email

Please also continue to visit our COVID Hub on Bridge for up-to-the-minute news and updates.

THANK YOU!!! Words truly cannot express my deep gratitude and admiration for your amazing response to this unimaginable global crisis! You have answered this call to action with courage, compassion, and an unstoppable drive to do whatever it takes to provide the very best care and service to every patient we serve. And today, because of your efforts, we can now say with confidence there’s light at the end of the tunnel. I look forward to working with you every step of the way in the months ahead to rebuild and reimagine an even better, brighter future for TriHealth, our patients, and our community!