May 09, 2022
Hi Team –
I am sharing my Weekly Update a day early to help kick off Healthcare Heroes Week, a fun-filled week-long celebration of National Nurses Week, National Hospital Week, our volunteers, and ALL of our amazing 13,000 TriHealth team members and physicians – our forever Healthcare Heroes!!
As we close the chapter on two long years of this once-in-a-century pandemic, this is our time to celebrate all we have accomplished TOGETHER. We have not only overcome every challenge brought on by COVID and cared for EVERY patient in need, but we have continued our sacred work of Getting Healthcare Right by...
- Providing COVID-related care to hundreds of thousands of patients across our entire TriHealth continuum!! This includes testing nearly 500,000 members of our community and caring for more than 45,000 COVID-positive patients, including 9,700 in our hospitals and ICUs, not to mention administering more than 200,000 vaccinations to our community.
- Strengthening our high-performing network of hospitals, ambulatory sites, and service lines, with the construction of our new TriHealth Heart Hospital on the Bethesda North Campus and continued
progress on our Master Facility Plan (MFP) to modernize perioperative and outpatient facilities at Good Samaritan Hospital. We also recently performed TriHealth’s first patient implantation of an LVAD (left ventricular assist device or heart pump) at Bethesda North Hospital. And the grateful patient, Brian Smith, had some fun at Saturday’s Reds game throwing out the first pitch, which was caught by his surgeon, our own Dr. Katie O’Keefe, Medical Director of our LVAD Program (see pic to right). Additionally, the TriHealth Cancer Institute launched its groundbreaking bone marrow transplant program at Good Sam, with the first transplant scheduled for this month! If that weren’t enough, Good Sam was designated a Comprehensive Stroke Center (CSC) by The Joint Commission, the highest designation awarded for stroke care! - Building a world-class physician enterprise through our landmark joint venture partnership with Beacon Orthopedics’ now nearly 60 physicians, and investments aimed at transforming our TriHealth Physician Partners (TPP) GI service line, which range from recruitment of new GI physicians and APPs to the development of strategic partnerships with Cincinnati GI and UC Health’s Division of Hepatology. We also broke ground on Finneytown, our 13th major comprehensive ambulatory care center, located in Springfield Township, and have recruited a net 14 new primary care physicians who will join TriHealth over the next 15 months.
- Improving team member and physician engagement in the midst of the pandemic was another important milestone, in sharp contrast to many organizations which saw morale and engagement plummet. Our March 2022 Engagement Pulse Survey results for both team members and physicians were 84% favorable – a solid 10% increase over the last survey in August 2021.
- Emerging as an industry leader and model for getting healthcare right, as evidenced by TriHealth’s designation by both United Healthcare and Anthem Blue Cross as the Top Performing Accountable Care Organization (ACO) in Ohio and #2 best-performing ACO in the nation by Anthem! And that’s not all – both Bethesda North and Good Sam were recognized by Newsweek Magazine as among the World’s Best Hospitals for 2022 based on publicly reported clinical outcomes and physician voting! What this means is TriHealth’s patients are healthier and care is more affordable because of the progress we are making in Getting Healthcare Right!
So, we have A LOT to celebrate because of YOU! And we have a week of fun activities, special tributes, exciting raffles, and cool prizes in store all week long to let you know just how much we value and appreciate you and all you’ve done – and continue to do – to help us get healthcare right as One Team, TriHealth STRONG!! Here are just a few of the exciting things you can look forward to:
- Special Team Member Town Hall tomorrow (Tuesday) at noon, livestreamed on Bridge. We’ll celebrate you, our Healthcare Heroes, and reveal the much-anticipated 2022 Healthcare Heroes soft and cozy t-shirt and design winner. You’ll also get the chance to enter a raffle, where 100 team members will be randomly selected to win a really great TriHealth gift. And, we will keep this Special Town Hall to 30 minutes to accommodate the busy schedules of as many team members and physicians as possible!! Following the Town Hall, we'll provide instructions on how to order your own FREE Healthcare Heroes t-shirt gift!
- Panera Family Feast meal voucher. Back by popular demand, we’re treating every team member and their loved ones to a Panera Family Feast – look for your voucher in the mail this week. We know that your ability to “show” up every day for our patients and one another throughout this pandemic was made possible by your loving and supportive family. So this meal is our way of giving a BIG thank you to them as well!!! We hope you and your family enjoy it in celebration of all we have accomplished together.
- Complimentary Open House at the Pavilion. This month, all of our team members and their families can take advantage of free access to the Pavilion’s fitness equipment, pools, sports courts, group exercise classes, and child care services. As we continue to heal and recover from two long years of COVID and focus on personal wellness, I encourage you to take advantage of this fun and healthy opportunity to restore and renew with your loved ones. Just show your TriHealth ID, and you will be a Pavilion member for the entire month of May!!
Free online participation in the Gratitude Symposium hosted by Quint Studer and The Gratitude Group. Also in the spirit of healing and renewal, we’re offering all team members the opportunity to participate in the virtual Gratitude Symposium throughout the month of May. This month-long series of free online presentations is meant to thank, teach, and inspire those in healthcare. Click here to learn more about the Gratitude Symposium and register. - Lots of local celebrations, treats, and special events. In addition to all the system activities going on this week, your local leaders have also planned a number of fun on-site events and surprises to celebrate and recognize your own team’s hard work and achievements, so be sure to enjoy them all! Visit Bridge for a complete rundown of Healthcare Heroes Week activities.
National Nurses Week
And as we celebrate all of our Healthcare Heroes this week, we are also taking time for a special recognition of our wonderful TriHealth nurses in honor of National Nurses Week. Our Chief Nurse Executive, Jenny Skinner, and the TriHealth nursing team kicked off the celebrations last Friday with a special Nursing Forum, and the festivities continue this week and include a special Nursing Open House on May 11 from 11:30am to 1:30pm at the Good Samaritan Dixmyth lobby. Individual nursing units will also be honoring their nurses with lots of fun local activities planned, and we’ll be featuring daily prize drawings on Bridge for our nurses all week.
COVID Update
While new COVID cases driven by the latest Omicron sub-variants continue a moderate rise locally, as well as across the state and nation, early indications seem to confirm that vaccines, high levels of immunity, and antiviral drugs have been effective in preventing a surge in serious illness and hospitalizations. Regional hospitalizations remain relatively flat and that continues to be the case at TriHealth, where we have 11 COVID inpatients this week.
Many have asked when masking requirements will be rolled back in clinical and patient-facing areas. This decision will be informed by CDC guidance, which will be based on a combination of risk factors, including trends in new cases per 100,000 population and hospitalizations. We continue to monitor the COVID trends and will communicate any new CDC guidance as soon as it becomes available.
Have a Wonderful Healthcare Heroes Week, and enjoy all of the well-deserved recognition and celebrations in your honor! The entire leadership team is humbled and so proud to work alongside you – the absolute BEST healthcare team anywhere!! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for everything you do to make TriHealth great for those we serve and those who serve...through it ALL!!