On this first Friday in April, the Governor extended the “stay at home” order for an additional two weeks; the President issued a “disaster declaration” for the state of Indiana (which opens up new funding streams); and the federal government appears to be supporting the wearing of masks in public in regions where COVID-19 prevalence is high.
At Hancock Health, today was the second day of wearing “washable clothing” and the first day of wearing masks in all areas. Hopefully you had a chance to ask questions of your department directors and found a mask to your liking. I will say that, while I enjoy the look of my checkered flag mask, it will take a bit of time to get used to actually wearing it. If anyone has a good solution to the eyeglass-fogging that comes along with mask-wearing, please let me know . If you didn’t see it yesterday, please take a moment to check out the following video that proves smiles can even penetrate a mask:
You will notice some new banners around our locations today. The first notes that “Heroes Work Here” and provide a way for warmhearted folks passing by to recognize this fact with a toot on their horn. The second are banners on the main campus noting where we have designated three parking spots at the far corner of the front lot for community members who wish to hold us up in prayer. I am hopeful that, as the word spreads, at least one of these spots will be filled 24/7.
The next update will come on Monday as we provide another breather for the leadership team. If you have the opportunity, please take advantage of the weekend to refresh and reinvigorate!
- 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/ - 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 early next week.
- Do your best, prepare for the worst – then trust God for the victory – Proverbs 21:31
All the Best,
Steve
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