Today, the Mayor of Marion County (Joe Hogsett) extended the county’s “stay-at-home” order until May 1st and it appears Governor Holcomb is considering the same action by the end of the week. In addition, the Governor kicked off the “#INthistogether” and reinforced the importance of social distancing (physical distancing) to combat the spread of COVID-19. He also mentioned that the curve is “flattening in Indiana.” As we monitor the data, we do see indications that the rate of growth slowed slightly over the weekend and this is cause for hope. While the rate of growth may be stabilizing, the actual number of new cases identified each day remains very high. Given this, it is important that we do not slow in our preparations locally…
Should your friends and family have questions on the virus, its impact, and the preparations Hancock Health has undertaken, please refer them to our website (http://www.
- Our efforts to reduce our regular patient care volumes as much as possible has worked and we are currently at the lowest inpatient census and outpatient visit level of the last ten years and are well-placed to handle a surge of COVID patients
- The Hancock Triage Clinic, Hancock Covid Triage hotline (317-325-2683 (COVD), and nurse@hancockregional.org email lines continue to provide needed service to the community during this time.
- Work to retrofit the Reflections unit to our first COVID care unit will be completed on Monday when it is stocked for the new purpose. Additional surge plans are being finalized that include in-house and off-site locations including our Gateway facility as a last resort.
- The end of in-person patient visitation has gone well and we have used the e-visitation system to great effect a few times. Learn more at https://www.
hancockregionalhospital.org/ 2020/03/friends-or-family-in- the-hospital-e-visit/ - Some hospitals in Indianapolis and surrounding counties are in a yellow or red status for PPE. We are very fortunate to still be in the green. This doesn’t mean we can stop conserving. Every item we can conserve might mean one more day of PPE for our associates… We are taking the next step in terms of personal attire to ensure our clothing is washed daily and additional guidelines in relation to masking will be coming tomorrow as we seek ways to ensure the safety of all our associates, regardless of their location.
- We are blessed to be finding new avenues to obtain additional PPE and for a very generous community as well who are finding and bringing in additional supplies. Should you have folks in the community who would like to donate to the cause, please have them contact Nancy Davis at ndavis@hancockregional.org.
- We have developed a temporary transportation team and a food delivery team to help our patients to receive food items and make it to their health care appointments since other transportation options are closing for a while. If you have patients that need transportation assistance, please contact Amanda Everidge at Aeveridge@hancockregional.org.
- We have made arrangements with Fairfield Inn to house hospital associates and medical staff, as well as first-responders in the community, who need temporary housing if they are concerned about carrying the virus home with them. Hancock Health is covering the cost of these rooms and additional information will be forthcoming in the next few days.
- Do your best, prepare for the worst – then trust God for the victory – Proverbs 21:31
All the Best,
Steve
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