Updated: January 5, 2022

—FOR INTERNAL COMMUNICATION ONLY—

To follow is the COVID-19 Update for Wednesday, January 5, 2022.

REFLECTIONS FROM PASTORAL CARE DIRECTOR KEITH KINCAID

“Heavenly Father, As the Earth has orbited the sun for another year, we begin our new journey in an orbit that we all know too well. On this new journey around the sun, guide us, Heavenly Father, to focus on our strengths, on that which is positive and on the good that is all round us.Help us direct our energy to the care of ourselves, our families and all who come to our doors.”

State COVID-19 Stats

1,287 hospitalized (up 628 from 12/29/21)
48 vents (up 20 from 12/29/21)

NOHS COVID-19 Stats

1,292 COVID-19 tests performed since 12/29/21 with 469 positive results and 4 tests pending (7,261 positive results from 47,403 tests performed to date)
1,736 recovered (up 28 from 12/29/21)
Overall positivity rate is 29%.
NOMC:
- 33 hospitalized (up 15 from 12/29/21)
- 2 vented (no change since 12/29/21)
- 2 deaths (since 12/29/21)

NORH: 18 patients (0 COVID-19 positive)
Hood: 11 Patients (1 COVID-19 positive); 11 employees out monitoring

SITUATION OVERVIEW

CMO Robert Peltier, M.D., reminds us that when the state reports COVID-19 numbers on Wednesdays, they are one week old. This week’s state update reveals that the incidence rate in Louisiana has increased by 345% from 138 to 616 per 100,000 people. For the same time period, percent positivity in Tangipahoa Parish has increased by 249% from 5.9% to 20.5%. The good news is that hospitalizations have not increased at the same rate. Although NOMC’s hospitalizations have doubled from last week, we are continuing to see milder disease and less hospitalizations than in previous waves.
If you have not received the booster, please consider getting it. Boosters do seem to be helping dramatically. Individuals who have received the booster are not getting sick at higher rates, and are not needing to be out for long periods of time if they do happen to contract COVID-19.
State testing and surveillance indicates that Omicron currently accounts for 90% of all cases and that previous monoclonal antibodies (mAb) treatments like REGEN-COV are not as effective against this variant. The supply being distributed of the newer effective treatments for Omicron continues to be very minimal (i.e., the mAb sotrovimab and the oral antiviral pill Paxlovid). For this reason, high-risk patients continue to be prioritized to receive these interventions (i.e., over age 65, morbidly obese with BMI greater than 40, immunocompromised, diabetic, unvaccinated).
Any employees with COVID-19 questions of any type are encouraged to email Dr. Peltier at peltierr@northoaks.org for assistance.

OPERATIONAL RESPONSE

Weekly Leadership Update Calls with “everyone” emails to follow will continue on Wednesdays until further notice.
Drive-thru COVID-19 testing has been expanded to five days/week on weekdays. Appointments are required, and no provider order is needed. Appointments can be scheduled online at covidtest.northoaks.org or by calling (985) 230-7777.
The COVID-19 Hotline is available from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays. Dial (985) 230-CV19 for assistance.
Access our “COVID-19 Toolkit” via the red crawling banner at the top of the OakLink home page for updates and to refresh your knowledge of current COVID-19 policies, procedures and protocols.
Visitor guidelines that were instituted Dec. 30 continue as follows:
- Non-COVID-19 patients in all areas, including clinics and the ED, are allowed to have one visitor/support person at a time with no swapping. There are two exceptions. Pediatric patients may have both parents visit at the same time. Laboring mothers may have two support persons.
- Remember that it’s never OK for COVID-19 positive patients to have visitors unless end-of-life.
Take note of these Infection Prevention musts:
- Mask properly. Universal masking protects against droplet and direct contact transmission.
- Everyone is expected to take an active role in cleaning shared surfaces in break rooms and on nursing stations with Liquid Quat each day. Remember that it has a shelf-life of 24 hours and must be replenished daily. Every day, every department should be sending a representative to the basement to get a fresh supply of liquid Quat and cleaning cloths. At the same time, you should be turning in your used bottle and cleaning cloths from the day before. This is very important because Quat is only good for 24 hours. Please call Environmental Services in advance of your trip at either ext. 7178 or ext. 6390 to request these items.
- All PPE must be centrally located on nursing units so that everyone – including ancillary and support staff, SNAP and agency nurses and providers – knows where to consistently get it and to help us better monitor our supply levels. A maximum of 1-2 gowns may be kept in the PPE boxes in patient rooms for emergency use only.
- For further assistance with Infection Prevention questions or concerns, contact Amanda Morse at ext. 6414 or Ashley Foster at ext. 6440.

STAFFING, VOLUME & SUPPLIES

Chief Human Resources Officer Jeff Jarreau reports that we have returned 30 employees back to work since Jan. 3, leaving 106 out monitoring (19 RNs and 1 RT). If you are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19, please call Employee Wellness immediately at (985) 230-SICK [7425] for timely testing and guidance.
CNO Kirsten Riney reports that staffing is extremely tight, but we do have agency and SNAP nurses here supporting our team.
CFO Mark Anderson reports that supplies are good.
Clinic and Diagnostics volume are stable.
Urgent Care volume at all locations has vastly increased due to patients presenting with COVID-19 symptoms.
We currently have 24 boarders in the ED and 21 expected discharges for today.

OTHER

Listen to Dr. Peltier’s “Community COVID-19 Update” every Thursday at 7:10 a.m. on Tangi 96.5 FM with Johnny Chauvin until further notice. Audio files of each interview also will be posted to www.northoaks.org/coronavirus and “MyNorthOaks” on social media in case you miss it.
The first floor of the NOMC Parking Garage will reopen Sunday, Jan. 9. The second and third floors are expected to reopen mid or late January.

Thank you all! We appreciate the job that you are doing!