COVID-19 Member News

“News about the novel coronavirus, which has now claimed over 90,000 American lives, is all around us. A subtext told in this reporting is the painful story of the pandemic’s devastating effect on people of color,” writes Martha A. Dawson, DNP, RN, FACHE, president, National Black Nurses Association, and associate professor, Nursing, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, co-author of an article in the Birmingham Times.

“With new safety and screening measures in place, along with guidance from local and state officials, we are confident in our ability to safely provide the care our patients need,” according to David Callecod, FACHE, president, Lafayette (La.) General Health.

Brian E. Dietz, FACHE, president/CEO, McDonough District Hospital, Macomb, Ill., wrote in an opinion piece to the community that “Your health and well-being is paramount to all of us. Let’s work together in partnership to assure all residents of McDonough County and the surrounding region continue to address all aspects of their healthcare needs.”

Erol R. Akdamar, FACHE, president, HCA/Medical City Healthcare, Dallas, in an article in Healthcare Business, said the organization has “been overwhelmed by the generosity of the North Texas community who has fed us, prayed for us and encouraged us in so many ways. Outside and inside our hospital system, I am also inspired by the capacity of our leadership team to plan for a medical surge the likes of which our country has never experienced.”

It’s the simple words I both heard and said over and over during my visits to Beebe’s four COVID-19 testing sites in Georgetown during the end of April and first week of May, David A. Tam, MD, FACHE, president/CEO, Beebe Healthcare, Lewes, Del., wrote in the Cape Gazette.

This hospital week, I am so proud of our team and the way they have stepped up to this new normal. I’m proud of everyone in our community who has stayed home to help flatten the curve and limit the spread of COVID-19, Sean T. Dardeau, FACHE, Market CEO, Porter Health Care System, Valparaiso, Ind., wrote in GreatNews.Life.

“While care might look different because of screening procedures, masks and social distancing, patients will continue to experience the same level of clinical excellence and dedication Wentworth-Douglass is known for,” Gregory Walker, FACHE, president/CEO, Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, Dover, N.J., said in a press release.

I am proud to see so many women and men who . . . have followed their calling into nursing and are delivering actions, not just words, as they respond bravely to the COVID-19 pandemic, Barclay E. Berdan, FACHE, CEO, Texas Health Resources, wrote in a guest column with the Flower Mound Leader.

With COVID-19 cases surging at different times in different regions of the country, nearly 200 nurses at Trinity Health, Livonia, Mich., are answering the call by temporarily leaving their homes and families to work alongside nurses in some of the hardest-hit communities, according to a Trinity Health press release.

“The $10B rural carve-out was an important development in stabilizing the operations of rural hospitals,” Brock Slabach, FACHE, senior vice president for member services, National Rural Health Association, told the Pharmacy Times. “Since the Public Health Emergency was declared in mid-March, we’ve seen significant surges of COVID-19 related disease as well as precipitous declines volume due to cancellation of elective procedures. These conditions have caused tremendous financial harm to rural hospitals and their ability to sustain their operations.”

Trinity Health Of New England is administering donated plasma to the first coronavirus patient within its newly launched clinical trial, with ACHE Governor Kurt A. Barwis, FACHE, CEO, Bristol (Conn.) Health, as one of three donors.

Northern Regional Hospital, Mount Airy, N.C., announced the hospital would be undergoing a gradual reopening of some of its patient services starting May 1, according to The Mount Airy News.

“We have seen over the last five days a decrease in our numbers of what we call patients under investigation. That number has been as high as double digits. ... we have also seen a flattening of the curve in the number of positive (cases of Covid-19),” said Mary B. Chatman, PhD, RN, in a Marietta Daily Journal webinar.

The coronavirus pandemic has shined an ugly light on health disparities, as severe cases of COVID-19 are disproportionately affecting African American communities at a higher rate, writes Kenny D. McMorris, FACHE, CEO, Charles Drew Health Center Inc., Omaha, Neb., on blacknewsportal.com.

CHRISTUS Health in Irving, Texas, announced it is now offering a new screening tool to some patients, as well as doctors, nurses and other CHRISTUS associates on the front lines to learn who has been infected with COVID-19, and, who might now carry protective antibodies.

University Medical Center, Lubbock, Texas, has partnered with a local school district to provide child care for medical center employees working on the front line in the fight against COVID-19.

Warner L. Thomas, FACHE, CEO, Ochsner Health, New Orleans, appeared at a White House press conference April 14 during an announcement that the administration was creating a public-private partnership that would allow hospitals to share ventilators, according to nola.com.

Researchers and clinical experts at Hackensack Meridian Health are looking into the blood of COVID-19 survivors, as a potential treatment for current COVID-19 patients, according to The Paramus Post.

Morgan Jones, FACHE, associate vice president, Strategic Planning, Duke University Health System, explains that in response to the pandemic, "Duke's telehealth office is actively increasing offerings and availability of services as well as the capacity to notify patients of these options,” according to myMotherLoad.com. 

Daniel J. Messina, PhD, FACHE, president/CEO, Richmond University Medical Center, Staten Island, N.Y., and a leader of a neighboring hospital, offer thanks in an open letter to the community in silive.com.

In a column on MSN.com, Michael F. Stapleton Jr., FACHE, president/CEO, UR Medicine Thompson Health, Canandaigua, N.Y., said the organization is providing equipment to other hospitals in need. 

J. Scott Steiner, FACHE, CEO, Phoebe Putney Health System, Albany, Ga., knows all too well the havoc COVID-19 can have on any community, following two funerals held in March, according to CNN.

Cooper University Health Care and Virtua Health have joined forces with the county to open a new drive-up COVID-19 testing site in the city of Camden, N.J.

MainLine Health has set up a website asking for donations of masks, gowns, gloves and other items for its hospitals, according to the Daily Times.

“This is not a hurricane, a nor’easter that floods the beaches, or an earthquake. The coronavirus pandemic is not going to wash away or dry up like these natural disasters,” wrote David A. Tam, MD, FACHE, president and CEO, Beebe Healthcare president & CEO, in a column in the Cape Gazette.