Hi Team – 

 

I could not be more encouraged by the progress we have made in recent weeks to vaccinate the TriHealth Team, ultimately to protect our patients and staff, lessen the severity of this fourth wave, and hopefully prevent future waves of this unpredictable and determined virus. I am also excited to share that as of tomorrow ALL TriHealth leaders will be vaccinated with the exception of just a few approved or in-process exemptions and deferments. And, with six weeks to go, nearly 85% of all team members are either fully or partially vaccinated or have received a medical or religious exemption. Now that’s progress just seven weeks following the announcement of our vaccine requirement!

 

We remain confident in our decision to put our patients’ safety first by requiring all TriHealth team members and physicians to be vaccinated by October 31, unless they receive an approved exemption or deferment. The science, and the evidence, are clear and overwhelming — the vaccines are safe and effective in reducing the spread of COVID-19 and are the only thing that will bring an end to this pandemic. And as I reported last week, this requirement is no longer just a TriHealth policy. New mandates by our federal government are now requiring that all healthcare workers across the country be vaccinated. We will continue our efforts to share the facts, answer your questions, and schedule your vaccine appointments in the coming weeks.

 

As the third largest employer in our community, we also understand the importance, and the responsibility, of demonstrating leadership and accountability in managing through this fourth wave and working to end this pandemic. And, as in the past, we will lead by example — starting with our leadership team today — and champion the importance of getting vaccinated. 

 

The leadership team and I recognize that each of you plays a critical role in our success, and we want you to continue contributing to what makes TriHealth great. We don’t want to lose a single TriHealth team member because we failed to share important information and evidence or adequately answer your questions and work to address your concerns. But time is very short. Remember, in order to meet the October 31 deadline, all team members will need to receive the first dose of Moderna by October 2 and the first dose of Pfizer by October 9. 

 

I look around today at our community – and our nation – and can see the toll the latest wave of the pandemic is taking on the unvaccinated – particularly children – and how hospitals are at or near capacity. (See the COVID statistics sidebar to the right.) And I have seen this with my own family – all of whom are now fully vaccinated. As many of you know, before the vaccines were widely available, one of my brothers, a physician, contracted COVID and he spent six weeks in the Bethesda North ICU clinging to life. Like many of you, I have witnessed first-hand the human suffering and personal toll on families caused by this awful virus, and now know that we have the means to end it…  through vaccination. 

 

I want to take the opportunity to say how grateful I am for team members who participated in forums and other discussions to learn more about these vaccines and why they are so important in protecting our patients and one another – and hastening an end to this pandemic. In the weeks ahead, we will continue to provide educational opportunities – including face-to-face, one-on-one discussions – to help our team members with remaining apprehensions through their own personal discernment and decision process. 

 

Healthcare workers — you and your colleagues across the nation — have endured much these past 20 months and are understandably stressed and fatigued at least in part because of the added demands and frustrations of caring for tens of thousands of COVID patients in our hospitals and ICUs, many of whose illnesses and even deaths were avoidable with a simple vaccine shot. That is why the federal government established vaccine mandates for all healthcare workers and employers with 100 or more employees. And it is why TriHealth is committed to setting an example to our community — and giving them the assurance of safety at our facilities — through this vaccine requirement. We have made great progress in a short period of time so let’s not ease up! Let’s continue to strive to lead the way with vaccinations as we have in so many other ways throughout this pandemic to always put the safety of our patients and one another first. And please, if you haven’t received your vaccine shot, I urge you to make your appointment today by clicking here to access our convenient online vaccine scheduling site!

 

While most of our recent communications have understandably focused on COVID and team member vaccinations, I don’t want to lose sight of the amazing work being done by our team members and physicians on a daily basis to Get Healthcare Right — better care, better health, better value and greater affordability. For example, our safety, reliability and quality efforts are making a difference! In August, we had zero serious/sentinel safety events, which is only the third time in our history, and all three months have occurred since we launched our journey to Zero Harm now three years ago! We’ve lowered our serious safety events by more than 50% over the past three years — and we are just getting started. Also, anonymous reporting dropped to 7% for two months in a row — down from 27% just two years ago. That means team members and physicians are comfortable adding their names to their reporting of safety events without fear of reprisal — a sign of marked progress in building a culture of safety in our Journey to Zero Harm!

 

Our workplace culture is being recognized. Forbes Magazine recently rated TriHealth one of the Top 100 Employers in Ohio! LinkedIn also recognized TriHealth among the Top 25 Companies in the greater Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky area. And TriHealth was named a finalist for Healthiest Employer in Ohio — and nine companies that TriHealth serves through our Corporate Health and Employer Solutions Division were rated among the healthiest, too! All of these recognitions serve as external validation that our work over the past six years to hardwire the TriHealth Way of Leading, Serving and Delivering Care has become deeply rooted and foundational in all that we do in caring for our patients and in supporting our people!

 

Our Population Health work — embracing value-based care and payment models — is literally paying dividends. For the first time, TriHealth earned $5.5 million in Medicare Shared Savings and another $6 million in Shared Savings through Anthem quality metrics and managing population. These payments are based on achievement of key clinical and effectiveness goals, which include quality and health outcomes, patient satisfaction and cost savings over projections. TriHealth outperformed other health systems in the region and nationally in a number of areas, including medication adherence, all cause 30-day readmissions, reducing avoidable admissions and ED visits, and management of chronic conditions like blood pressure control. 

 

Finally, we just ended one of the most successful years in TriHealth’s more-than-25-year history — Fiscal Year 2021—and we did so while managing through the challenges of a once-in-a-century pandemic. Thanks to all of you, we met or exceeded most of our pillar goals, and, for those where we didn’t, we ended the year with improvement and positive momentum coming into this year!

 

All of this positive momentum is happening at TriHealth because the overwhelming majority of our team members have not lost sight of why they chose careers in healthcare and, as importantly, why they chose to work at TriHealth. I assure you that I — and our leaders throughout the system — see this commitment and are moved by it every day! And that is why we don’t want to lose a single one of you and the passion that you bring to your essential roles, because of a vaccine requirement that we will achieve and put behind us in just a few short weeks. 

 

Thank you for all that you do for TriHealth, our patients and our community every day, but particularly for your courageous and selfless commitment to serve over the past two months. We will prevail over this fourth pandemic wave and emerge as a more cohesive, more resilient organization thanks to your dedication to working together as One Team, TriHealth Strong!