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Update: March 23, 2020

Updated 11:40 a.m., 3/23/20

  • The executive team is working with leaders to determine how we can comply with the Governor’s Emergency Order closing non-essential businesses until April 12th.
    • We will be scaling down services and staff to skeleton crews with essential personnel only. We want to ensure we are able to provide the best possible care with the fewest number of people.
    • Those employees deemed essential at North Oaks should carry their badge and driver’s license at all time. We anticipate checkpoints being implemented by the state at some point.
    • The better the community complies with the Governor’s order, the faster we’ll be able to get back to business as usual.
  • Beginning at noon today we will begin taking employee temperatures as they report to work. The Tower screening station will be open from 6 a.m. – 8 p.m.; the station at the main entrance from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.; and the ED screening station will operate 24/7.
    • Caresa Lemoine is handling staffing for this function. If clinical staff have an interest in helping at the screening stations, please contact her at x.6196.
    • Staff who have thermometers at their work station will be asked the screening questions at the station, will be allowed to go to their unit, and can take and report their temperature at their duty location.
    • Staff in outlying buildings should stop in the Tower circle drive before reporting to work to have their temperature taken. HR will be rounding outlying buildings to ensure compliance.
    • There will also be screening stations at NORH, HPPB and Clinic buildings.
    • Anyone with a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher will be asked to call the employee wellness line.
  • Some physicians, CRNAs and advance practice providers are being reassigned to units caring for patients in isolation to provide assistance to staff.
  • Laura Lucky and Charles Abrams are being added to the Infection Prevention team until further notice.
  • Please to NOT alter how PPE is used or worn unless new direction comes from Infection Prevention. Instructions sheets and other resources are in the COVID folder and on the I: drive.
  • Please remind staff to adhere to our Social Media and Photography policies. It is not appropriate to post pictures of yourself or others at work at North Oaks on your own feed, or take pictures of internal communications and post publicly.
  • Population health performed about 60 telemedicine visits this weekend, and we have about 60 appointments for the COVID-19 drive-through screening station.
  • Employee Wellness Update: We are monitoring several employees in three categories.
    • Symptomatic employees are at home and we are monitoring their condition daily.
    • Staff who may have had community exposure but are asymptomatic – they are allowed to work, but must wear a mask and report their temperature 2 x daily.
    • Staff who may have been exposed (while not wearing PPE) to a patient deemed to be a Person Under Investigation, but are asymptomatic. They are allowed to work, but must wear a mask and report their temperature 2 x day. We are tracking the medical records of those patients and as the test results come back negative, are notifying staff they no longer need to mask and report temps.
    • The employee wellness line (x. 5706) will be manned from 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. 7 days/week. After hours you can reach the employee wellness staff person on call through the hospital switchboard.
  • SUPPLIES:
    • We continue to explore resources for supplies outside our normal supply chain.
    • There are no shoe covers left in central supply. Amanda is working on developing options.
    • Supplies of test kits and viral panels have reached critical levels. Drs. Peltier and Newman must approve use.
    • We have several supplies that are at the “Contingency” level; we are watching closely. Treat all PPE AS IF we can’t get it.
    • Please refer organizations who would like to donate medical supplies to Toni Shirey at ext. 6310.
    • Dr. Peltier reminds everyone that we will continue to provide the highest level of protection available, following CDC guidelines (e.g. N-95 masks). IF we need to begin to reuse supplies, we will provide guidance about how to do so safely. When supplies are restocked, we will return to CDC standards to be as safe as possible.
  • Donations: We are receiving calls from the community about donations.
    • Please refer restaurants who would like to donate food to Melanie Zaffuto at ext. 6555.
    • We have gotten many questions about whether we will accept donations of home-sewn masks. We will accept them and provide to patients to take home with them (we will not plan to use for our team at this point.)
  • Incident Command is going to activate at 4 p.m. today, and will be staffed from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m., seven days a week until further notice.
    • Please notify incident command if you are changing your hours.
  • No visitor policy is in effect, with the following exceptions:
    • Out of compassion for our families, patients in life-limiting situations will be allowed four (4) immediate family members to be with them (no swapping out). Patients at end of life who are in isolation rooms will be allowed one person to be with them. Visitation in these situations will be controlled by the nursing staff. From 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. call visitor control at x7016 to coordinate patients visits. After hours contact the emergency department.
    • Laboring patients will be allowed one person to accompany them (no swapping out).
    • Pediatric patients must have one parent in the room with them (no swapping out).
    • People driving patients to the Emergency Department will be asked to wait in their car while the patient is evaluated unless nursing determines the need for a support person. If the patient needs to be admitted the driver will be allowed to meet with the patient before they are taken to their hospital room. If patients are PEC, the nursing staff will evaluate the need for a support person on a case by case basis.
    • Same Day Surgery patients will be allowed one person, who must remain in the patient’s room while the procedure is being performed (not in the waiting room).
    • Drivers accompanying patients for clinic visits or outpatient testing will be asked to wait in their automobile and communicate with staff via cell phone.
  • Please continue to refer general COVID-19 questions to the state’s 211 line.
  • The following area is suspending operations today:
    • Independence Primary Care
  • The following areas will suspend operations tomorrow (Tuesday), March 24th.
    • Outpatient diagnostic center in Hammond
      • Casey is working on a plan to perform diagnostic mammography services 1-2 hours/week for patients who require them.
    • Michael and Kanna are working on a plan to suspend other clinics. More information is expected this afternoon.
    • NOPG Multispecialty Clinic in Livingston Parish
    • Orthopedic Specialty Clinic in Livingston Parish
    • Outpatient diagnostic center in Livingston Parish
  • The medical staff will be notified that beginning Tuesday morning we will not take walk-in laboratory or x-ray – patients will need to be scheduled to receive diagnostic services. Call x. 7777 to schedule.
  • At 2 p.m. this afternoon the emergency department will open a separate COVID-19 triage area. Patient with non-respiratory related conditions will be routed to a separate area of the emergency department.
  • We are patrolling the emergency department parking lot for crowd control.
  • The blood drive was a huge success. We received donations from 189 people, most of whom were North Oaks staff members.
  • Remember to track hours related to COVID-19 response on the disaster hours form (on Oaklink under Forms/Finance/Disaster Hours) and submit with payroll. COVID-19 related expenses should be billed to department 8600.