February 09, 2021
Hi Team –
Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow last week – predicting 6 more weeks of winter – and the long-range forecast suggests he might have gotten it right this year! But as resilient as our TriHealth team has been over the past year, I cannot imagine a few more weeks of winter slowing us down. Spring will definitely be here before we know it and so will the end of this once in a century pandemic!!
COVID Status Update
There is continued good news regarding the spread of COVID. Hospitalizations in the region and at TriHealth continue to gradually decrease, as regional hospitalizations dropped below 500 last week with just 99 inpatients at TriHealth on Monday. It’s been months since we’ve seen numbers this low and it’s encouraging to see this downward trend. Sadly, though, in January we saw the highest number of COVID related deaths as a nation since the pandemic began nearly a year ago. And as we continue to monitor the new variants being discovered across the country, there is hope that the vaccines, coupled with continued use of masks and other mitigation measures, will be able to blunt their impact. So, it remains as important as ever for all of us – even if vaccinated – to continue practicing our COVID Always Behaviors (listed in the sidebar) until all of our loved ones and community members can receive their vaccine.
Vaccination Status Update
Community vaccinations continue and this week those over the age of 65 are eligible for the vaccination process. With teachers newly eligible for vaccinations this week, our allotment for the public will be even lower than it’s been in recent weeks at about 1,000 doses. With the governor’s focus on essential healthcare workers, teachers and the most vulnerable populations – coupled with the tight supply of vaccines – it is likely we won’t start vaccinating the general public younger than age 65 until March or perhaps later, depending on when additional vaccines like Johnson and Johnson’s single dose are approved for use. Even with broader community roll out of vaccines still weeks away, it remains vitally important for us as healthcare workers to educate people on why it is important to get the vaccine when it becomes more broadly available.
The Black and Brown communities we serve have tragically been disproportionately impacted by COVID infections and death. And today, there remain lingering questions and a reluctance to be vaccinated within these communities of color – for understandable reasons related to history and a lack of trust. Dr. Bill Buckley and our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team recently shared with me this video of Dr. Anthony Fauci discussing the importance of educating communities who may be reluctant to get the vaccine with prominent Bishop T.D. Jakes. TriHealth is continuing our own targeted education campaigns with Dr. Paul Waller’s participation on a live panel during the Local 12 noon news last week and Dr. Angel Mena’s recent interview on La Mega 97.7FM, a local Spanish-language radio station. Throughout this pandemic, TriHealth has been a credible source of reliable and trusted information, and it is our mission to serve our entire community, particularly those who traditionally have been underserved.
TriHealth Heroes Celebrate the Super Bowl
COVID certainly contributed to an unusual Super Bowl this year, but I hope you had time to relax and enjoy the game and the fun ads! As I shared last week, 15 TriHealth team members were honored with Super Bowl packages through our partnership with the Bengals. Four were given an all-expense-paid trip to the Super Bowl in Tampa, and 11 received Bose Game Packages – which included a really cool Bose sound system. The Bose Game Package winners were also surprised with a very personal pre-game Zoom meet and greet with Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow! Overall, the NFL invited 7,500 vaccinated healthcare workers to the Super Bowl to recognize the heroic work performed each and every day by caregivers such as ours. Our team members had a wonderful time, based on their posts shared on the Bengals and TriHealth social media pages… and some of the pictures they texted to me throughout the game and during their stay in Tampa Bay!! Check out some of their fun pictures posted here.
Additionally, because of our unique partnership with Local 12, we were able to air a public service announcement (PSA) during the Super Bowl featuring our team members sharing their “why” for getting vaccinated, as part of our “Vaccinated For You” campaign. The PSA will continue to air on Local 12 for the next couple of months as part of TriHealth’s multi-faceted community education campaign aimed at answering questions and allaying fears about the vaccine – all in order to achieve herd immunity and eradicate this virus and pandemic once and for all!
February is Heart Month
Finally, February has traditionally been Heart Month, and we don’t want the important messages of “healthy heart care” lost in all the COVID news cycle. As we’ve discussed repeatedly over the past year, far too many members of our community have delayed seeking preventive or even emergency care due to fears related to COVID and this pandemic – and it is often having devastating effects on the severity of patients’ conditions when we finally see them. Heart conditions are among the most common and the most fatal, so we are launching a Heart Month awareness campaign this week. Click here to see some examples of our campaign. We will also use the media coverage we expect later this month from the ground-breaking of our new Heart Hospital on the Bethesda North campus to reinforce these messages and to educate the public on proper heart care.
As always, I am grateful for all you do! No health system CEO is prouder or more privileged to work beside their team than I am to be working with each of you. Please stay safe and take time to talk with your family, friends and neighbors about why you got vaccinated… I am doing so, every opportunity I get!!
Overall Rating: Comments:
This was great information for us to give to our patients.
Posted by: Melissa Thompson2 on February 14, 2021
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