April 05, 2022
Hi Team –
As we approach the spring season’s religious holidays and holy observances – including Easter, Passover and Ramadan – we once again rededicate ourselves to living out our faith traditions and values at TriHealth by caring for the poor, the marginalized and those most in need. And this commitment – our sacred calling to serve – knows no bounds, as you have shown through your generous support of humanitarian relief efforts for the people of Ukraine. Our TriHealth Team has now donated nearly $20,000 through the American Red Cross which will directly aid in delivering food, supplies and resources to Ukraine. And with TriHealth’s promise to match the first $20,000 of your giving, our total impact will expand to nearly $40,000! Thank you for “showing up” and ”stepping up” for all those most in need – through the care we provide our patients and through your generous giving to those suffering beyond our borders. TriHealth is blessed with a truly special team – the very best healthcare team anywhere!
Two Years of COVID in Review: A Tribute to Our TriHealth Team
As COVID gradually shifts from pandemic to a more manageable endemic state, we are now, finally, able to enjoy better days less dominated by the virus. But as we move forward and begin to heal from the prolonged stress and trauma brought on by COVID, it is important that we acknowledge and reflect on what we’ve been through as an organization and as individuals. Looking back on our two-year journey, above all, this global health pandemic has been about people – those who contracted the virus, those who lost loved ones, and those who courageously showed up every day to care for our patients – COVID and non-COVID alike – in their time of greatest need. So, it is important that as we reflect, we also remind ourselves that behind every COVID inpatient census count or every statistical trendline, there are real people – friends, neighbors, relatives, loved ones. The numbers do, however, help us to understand the sheer magnitude of what our caregivers and our community have experienced through these two long years of COVID. Consider…
- Through the end of March 2022, we have tested more than 251,000 TriHealth patients for COVID, with more than 47,000 of these patients testing positive and requiring some level of care across every part of our system from our physician offices to ambulatory centers to Emergency Departments to Priority Care and TriHealth Clinics at Walgreens to our inpatient units and ICUs.
- Our system cared for more than 9,500 hospitalized COVID patients in the past two years, with nearly 1,700 being placed in our ICUs. And sadly, far too many of our friends, relatives and neighbors succumbed to this terrible disease.
- More than 4,500 of our team members and physicians tested positive for COVID in this span. Fortunately, many were asymptomatic or experienced just mild symptoms.
- In true TriHealth fashion, our team members also rallied to help and to serve our community as we faced wave after wave of COVID, with more than 1,200 team members stepping up to provide nearly 57,000 hours of support through our Helping Hands program – often over and above their regular jobs!
- And TriHealth team members and volunteers staffed eight vaccination centers and over 100 mobile vaccination clinics helping to administer nearly 200,000 vaccinations to members of our community.
It was the amazing “can do” attitude of our doctors, nurses and other team members at every step of our COVID response that enabled TriHealth to continue providing the highest quality care to our community throughout this pandemic, while never losing sight of our mission, never turning away a single patient and never closing our doors to those in need.
As I’ve mentioned in recent Weekly Updates, we are now facing what we hope is our final COVID challenge: recovering from the personal toll of COVID, renewing ourselves and re-engaging and redoubling our efforts around the TriHealth Way of Serving and Delivering Care. As part of this healing and renewal process, I encourage you to reflect on what we have come through together and consider the thousands of patients and families we’ve touched, cared for and supported. And, please recognize and take pride in all that we have accomplished together through this unprecedented experience – One Team, TriHealth Strong – always there for our patients and community in their time of greatest need.
COVID Update
Locally and nationally, COVID cases remain relatively stable following weeks of sharp decline. As indicated in the sidebar to the right, our COVID inpatient census at TriHealth has been in single digits for the past three weeks, and for the second consecutive week, we are without a COVID patient on a ventilator. And now all 14 tri-state counties are rated as “low risk” status per the CDC’s Community Levels guidance – an encouraging indicator that transmission rates are at a near pandemic low.
Leadership Updates
At its core, the TriHealth Way is about people and culture, and our unwavering commitment to invest in the professional growth and development of our team members, physicians and leaders. And in the process, we not only advance the careers of our people but we also further our mission to deliver the best, safest care to all those we serve! As such, we have cultivated a strong, talented “pipeline” of highly qualified team members, leaders and physicians whose abilities are known and whose belief in and commitment to our values and culture is unquestioned. So, I am excited to share news of this commitment “in action” to develop our people and promote from within.
Terri Hanlon-Bremer, who assumed senior leadership responsibility for Population Health just two years ago, was honored earlier this week as one of the nation’s “Top 25 Innovators” in healthcare by Modern Healthcare magazine. Terri was recognized for her collaborative leadership in implementing TriHealth’s value-based care and financing models while improving our performance as an Accountable Care Organization (ACO). You may recall I reported in a recent Weekly Update that TriHealth was named the top performing ACO in Ohio by UnitedHealthcare and the second-best performing ACO in the nation by Anthem. Terri’s leadership is helping us to Get Healthcare Right by delivering on the Triple Aim of better care, better health and better value! Click here to learn more. 
Dr. Sarah Nashi, a pain medicine specialist with TriHealth Physician Partners (TPP) since 2015, has been selected to serve as the new TPP Musculoskeletal (MSK) Medical Director. Dr. Nashi succeeds Dr. Thomas Shockley, Jr., who was appointed Associate Chief Medical Officer for the Bethesda North region earlier this year. In this role, Dr. Nashi will provide day-to-day leadership of our talented MSK providers, including TriHealth orthopedic surgeons, pain medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehab (PM&R), and podiatry physicians.
I am equally excited to share that following collaborative internal selection processes, Susan Macy, MBA, BSN, RN, NE-BC, and Maria Ashdown, MSN, RN, NE-BC, have been chosen to serve as our Chief Nursing Officers (CNO) for the Bethesda North and Good Samaritan regions, respectively. These transitions will be effective in early April.
Prior to her transition to Bethesda North, Susan served as Good Samaritan region CNO since July 2019, where she played an important leadership role in achieving Good Sam’s designation as our system’s Comprehensive Stroke Center. Throughout COVID, she also led a number of important patient-focused initiatives including implementing surge planning, team staffing models, an Epic disaster navigator module, Helping Hands teams, and physician collaboration teams. Susan was recently selected for the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (ANOL) Nurse Executive Fellowship program with 22 other CNOs from premier health systems across the country. A TriHealth team member and leader for over 20 years, Maria has served as System Director of Emergency Service since 2018,
where she has led all six Emergency Departments (EDs). She played a critical leadership role in supporting our EDs throughout COVID, while also serving as chair of the Nursing Management Council and co-chair of the Stroke Committee. Maria maintains Nurse Executive Board Certification (NE-BC). As she transitions into her new role, Maria will continue to provide system leadership for Emergency Service.
where she has led all six Emergency Departments (EDs). She played a critical leadership role in supporting our EDs throughout COVID, while also serving as chair of the Nursing Management Council and co-chair of the Stroke Committee. Maria maintains Nurse Executive Board Certification (NE-BC). As she transitions into her new role, Maria will continue to provide system leadership for Emergency Service. Please join me in congratulating Terri, Dr. Nashi, Susan, and Maria – all proven TriHealth leaders who are playing instrumental roles in advancing our work of Getting Healthcare Right!
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” This poignant statement from Helen Keller gets to the heart of one of the most essential learnings from this long two-year COVID journey. As we look back on the hardships, sacrifices and losses, let’s also reflect on and appreciate how we came together at every turn in service to those who looked to TriHealth for healthcare services in their time of greatest need. Thank you for all you have done and all you continue to do to advance our vision and mission of Getting Healthcare Right for our entire community!