Hi Team –

 

I hope you had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend, relaxing with loved ones and enjoying some of the final days of summer with the start of college football and one of Cincinnati’s favorite annual traditions – Riverfest and the world-class Western & Southern/WEBN fireworks show! And a BIG thanks to our team members and physicians who worked throughout this holiday weekend for your dedicated service to our patients and community! Thanks for all you do, during Labor Day Weekend and EVERY day to ensure TriHealth is ALWAYS there to serve our community.

 

With the continued decline in COVID transmission in our region (weekly new case rate is now at 176/100,000 people, down from 266/100,000 a few weeks ago) and a stable COVID inpatient census, TriHealth is joining the region’s other health systems in rolling back our masking requirement in non-clinical areas throughout our system. Based on CDC guidelines, masks will continue to be required for all team members, physicians, patients and visitors in the clinical/patient care settings in our hospitals, ambulatory centers, physician practices, diagnostic centers and rehabilitation offices.

 

We were also encouraged last week with CDC’s revised guidance on when and how masks should be worn in non-clinical areas. Their updated guidelines now recommend indoor masking only for immune-suppressed individuals who are at the highest risk of serious COVID complications. This means that even if transmission levels in our region surge again in the future, we should not need to return to masking in non-clinical areas. While most infectious disease experts believe a spike in COVID cases is likely as we move indoors with cooler fall and winter weather, we are hopeful that reinstituting mask-wearing in non-clinical areas will not be necessary. As we have throughout COVID, we will closely monitor the data, and continue to follow CDC guidance to ensure that we are providing the safest care, practice and work environments for those we serve and those we serve beside.

 

This week at TriHealth, we have 46 COVID inpatients with no COVID patients on ventilators and a 30.5% positivity rate for symptomatic patients. Regionally, we are encouraged to see that Hamilton and Warren Counties have moved to “low” risk status per CDC community guidelines, and that only two counties in our region remain in the “high” risk category.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to approve two new COVID booster vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. These new “bivalent” vaccines are designed to add immunity against the COVID Omicron variant, which has been the predominant variant or strain spreading across the U.S. for most of this year. As a result of this change, the FDA and Ohio Department of Health (ODH) have instructed all healthcare providers to no longer administer the “monovalent” or original booster shot effective immediately. Upon receiving this notification, last Thursday TriHealth immediately contacted our patients who were scheduled to receive their booster shots and rescheduled all of these patients to receive the new and improved “bivalent” booster in the coming weeks. At this time, we are awaiting the arrival of the new vaccine from ODH, which we expect to be received next week. 

 

TriHealth’s Journey to Get Healthcare Right by adopting innovative care and financing models to deliver on the Triple Aim of better care, better health, and better value with an enhanced physician and team member practice and work environment started more than seven years ago, in early 2016. This journey and the progress we have made have been nothing short of extraordinary! Over these seven years, we have seen improving performance across all five Pillars, including increasing team member and physician engagement, improving patient experience, dramatic reduction in harm events, unprecedented system financial strength, and continuing emergence as a regional and national model of excellence within our industry. And, most importantly, our patients are healthier and care is more affordable because of this transformational work!! By nearly every measure, we have made impressive progress in our Journey from Good to Great to Get Healthcare Right, and it is now time to tell our story to all of our healthcare “consumers” – patients, employers, payors and the larger community!

 

So, one of our FY2023 Strategic and Operational Priorities (click here for the complete list of FY2023 priorities) is to share with the community this impressive work to Get Healthcare Right and why it matters. And we did just that recently with a “takeover” of Local 12’s popular “What’s Happening in Health” show (click here for the video).

 

During this hour-long show dedicated to the latest in health and wellness news, TriHealth leaders and physicians discussed with Liz Bonis, program host, the importance of shifting from traditional fragmented “sick” care and financing models to highly coordinated “health” and value-based models of care and financing, or what we know as “Population Health.” And as an organization committed to the Triple Aim of delivering the right care in the right place at the right time with the right clinical outcomes at the right cost, our TriHealth team discussed many of the innovative ways we are expanding access, better coordinating care and improving health and wellness outcomes for the more than 500,000 patients we care for throughout our healthcare delivery system. And a few examples include Behavioral Health services now being integrated into our primary care, women’s health and many specialty practices along with the region’s first dedicated Precision Medicine Institute to provide cutting-edge, targeted, life-saving genetic care allowing for earlier detection of disease and more effective treatment. Special thanks to those who offered expert insights on Liz’s show to help “tell our story” to Greater Cincinnati – Terri Hanlon-Bremer, TriHealth COO; Jill Miller, Bethesda Inc. and bi3 President & CEO; Dr. Dallas Auvil, System Chief of Behavioral Health; Dr. Steve Cleves, System Chief of Primary Care; Dr. Joshua Stephens, TPP Internal Medicine; and Courtney Rice, Manager of Precision Medicine & Genetic Services. Be sure to tune in and share our story!

 

World-class women’s golf tees off in Cincinnati this Thursday as Kenwood Country Club hosts the LPGA Kroger Queen City Championship golf tournament. And as the official healthcare and “event medicine” provider for this tournament, TriHealth will have a front row seat in serving the golfers, sponsors and fans throughout the four-day event. Sponsorship of this LPGA tournament will also offer us additional ways to better “tell our story” to a new and diverse consumer audience. And don’t forget – you can still get in on the action and attend the event through an exclusive TriHealth team member offer. Click here for details on how to take advantage of this special “Buy 2, Get 1 Free” ticket offer.

 

I hope you are thinking about riding because there is still time to register to join “Team TriHealth” in the Ride Cincinnati fundraising event on Saturday, September 17. Ride Cincinnati is a grassroots cycling event that raises money for life-saving cancer research and treatment. And as one of our charitable giving options in the One Campaign, all money raised by “Team TriHealth” riders and donors will go toward supporting the TriHealth Cancer Institute – the region’s most comprehensive and preferred cancer care provider – and our world-class cancer care and groundbreaking research. Team members and physicians who register to fundraise and ride with TriHealth will have their $100 registration fee waived and will receive a really cool TriHealth cycling jersey plus two tickets to an upcoming Cincinnati Reds game. When we last came together to participate in Ride Cincinnati in 2019 before COVID, we raised nearly $10,000! So, I hope you will consider hopping on your bike again this year to ride with Mark Witte, me and many of your team members to support and benefit our TriHealth Cancer Institute patients and their families. Visit Bridge for more details.

 

The progress we have made in our Journey to Get Healthcare Right – even in the face of a once-in-a-century global public health crisis – is truly remarkable and is a testament to YOU, our incredible TriHealth Team!! Thank you for who you are and all you do to keep us TriHealth Strong so that we can deliver on our promise to serve our patients with the best and safest healthcare.