Update: August 18, 2020

Thought of the Day: The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart.

COVID-19 stats reported to date for Louisiana:
- 138,485 confirmed positive cases (increase of 4,181 since Aug. 13)
- 4,403 deaths (increase of 165 since Aug. 13)
- 1,226 hospitalized patients (decrease of 94 since Aug. 13)
- 184 patients on vents (decrease of 27 since Aug. 13)
COVID-19 stats reported to date for North Oaks:
- 1,859 positive tests out of 10,570 tests performed with results for 121 tests pending
- NOMC:
  - 417 patients successfully recovered (increase of 20 since Aug. 13)
  - 34 COVID-19 positive patients (decrease of 1 since Aug. 13)
  - 10 patients on vents (increase of 2 since Aug. 13)
  - 1 patient under investigation
  - 4 deaths (since Aug. 13)
- NORH: 17 patients with 1 COVID-19 positive patient
- Hood: 20 patients and 2 COVID-19 positive patients
Vice President of Clinics Kanna Page reports that two recent operational changes are going very well:
- Transfer of Return to Work Clinic function to Walk-In Clinics
- Transfer of COVID-19 Hotline from Population Health to PACS with the same hours of operation of 7 a.m.-7 p.m. seven days/week.
  - In terms of volume:
    - Outpatient volume remains steady.
    - OR remains very busy.
Employee Wellness returned 16 employees to work yesterday. We have 32 employees out – 8 of whom are RNs and a respiratory therapist.
Chief Nursing Officer Kirsten Riney reports that staffing remains tight.
Dr. Herbert Robinson has been selected by Epic to be interviewed for his work on COVID analytics, and that interview will take place Friday, Aug. 21. We commend Dr. Robinson and his team for their great work!
Chief Operating Officer Michael Watkins noted that the supply chain for Cepheid swabs and gloves remains a challenge nationwide. (As reported last week, Leadership has been meeting to develop and implement contingencies to stay on top of sourcing alternatives and additional supplies.)
Chief Medical Officer Robert Peltier reminds everyone to look for updated statewide numbers to be released tomorrow, Wednesday, Aug. 19. He noted that we continue to see downward trends in overall numbers and percent positive. We should know over the next couple of weeks how children going back to school impacts numbers – especially now that some of the schools have been in session at least two weeks. Hopefully, all of the plans that have put into place will continue to show better news.
Let’s make it a great week! Thank you for all of your efforts in caring for community!