September 16, 2020 @ 4:30 p.m.
Every Wednesday, Dr. Sherrill Brown, Medical Director, Infection Prevention, Berenice Constant, VP, Government Relations, and Elizabeth Sepetjian, AVP, Talent Management (HR), give an update for clinic and corporate line of business leaders.

You can read today's notes here.
Sherrill Brown, MD
Berenice Constant
Liz Sepetjian
Questions & Communications

We welcome your questions, suggestions and input. We do review each submission and respond appropriately, so please continue to email us—click here. Know that this is a safe space and that most questions will be answered individually prior to being shared anonymously with staff.

We also encourage you to review communications, such as the Wednesday COVID-19 huddles and email alerts, COVID-19 resource and policy pages on Town Square, altamed.org/coronavirus, and any regular emails you receive.

FAQs posted below may not be comprehensive, so please check the FAQs in each weekly alert to be sure your questions have not already been answered.

Q & A of the Week

Q: Is it recommended or safe for someone who has recovered from COVID-19 to get the flu shot? 

From the COVID-19 Response Team
A: Yes, we recommend that all individuals get the flu shot as long as they do not have a prior contraindication. The flu shot is not a live vaccine and cannot make you sick. COVID-19 can cause long term damage to lungs and other organs making them more susceptible to damage and flu related morbidity and mortality. 
New Laboratory for COVID Tests

Please refer to the email sent by Dr. Brown to clinics and providers on Monday, September 14. For any questions, contact Dr. Brown.
  • As of yesterday, AltaMed started using Fulgent Laboratories for its COVID-19 testing. Please make sure to refer to Fulgent Labs in Epic (currently, Quest Labs shows as the default). We are making a change to the lab in order to facilitate a faster turnaround time for results for our patients and staff members.
  • It is now up to the ordering provider to deliver the COVID-19 results to the patients. This change took effect on Monday, September 14.
  • All positive results need to be reported to Los Angeles County Public Health. Orange County Public Health only needs a phone call if the patient lives or works in a congregate living facility or is homeless.

Employee and Patient Screening Process
We continue to use Qualtrics for our employee screening process, which is going well. For patients, we are making some changes to the screening process for it to be more efficient. Again, for any questions or concerns, please contact Dr. Brown.
Get Your Flu Vaccinations

AltaMed continues to schedule flu vaccinations. Please visit Town Square (top right news block) for all flu-related information, including dates, times, and locations for vaccinations.
 
Please Note:
  • Employees can attend any of the already scheduled flu vaccinations without making an appointment.
  • If you cannot attend any of the already scheduled flu vaccinations, please send a calendar invitation to flucampaign@altamed.org. Again, calendar invitations are required only to schedule a flu shot outside of the already scheduled dates/times.
  • If you receive the flu vaccine outside of AltaMed, please submit your proof to flucampaign@altamed.org.
Do Your Part and Slow the Spread!
 
As essential workers, it is our personal responsibility to follow safety guidelines both at work and at home.

We continue to remind all our employees and staff to adhere to our safety guidelines:
  1. Wear your masks – Face masks are to be worn at all times over your nose and mouth (except when drinking or eating), and should be stored properly or discarded.
  2. Maintain hand hygiene – Staff should have easy access to hand sanitizer dispensers to clean hands frequently, and should wash hands for 20 seconds at a time.
  3. Practice physical distancing – Six feet apart from other individuals whether inside or outside.
  4. Wipe down any work surfaces you touch.
  5. Patient-facing staff, including front office, should wear a face shield or eye covering in addition to a face mask—avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
  6. Employees must wear appropriate PPE when on site.
HR Updates COVID-19 Policies

Human Resources has been working on updating policies and creating new ones related to COVID-19. A memo was emailed to LDI on September 15 from Veronica Gomez, Vice President of Human Resources, listing both the six updated and two new policies. A separate memo was emailed to all employees earlier today outlining the updated and new policies. The policies are also listed in today's notes for your review.

In addition, every employee will need to complete an acknowledgement of these policies in the Learning Management System in Town Square by Friday, October 9. For questions, please reach out to your HR Business Partner.
Cancelled: PPE Relief Event on September 17

Due to the extremely poor and dangerous air quality, the September 17 PPE Relief Program has been cancelled. We must consider the safety and well-being of our many volunteers and partners, who would be outdoors all day. Once new details are available, we will share them with you. Thank you to the AltaMed employees who volunteered to support this event!
Please Note: If you are contacted by the media with questions about the coronavirus outbreak or for any other reason, please email Veronica Orozco, Sr. Manager, Public Relations. The Public Relations team monitors all media coverage of AltaMed (social and traditional platforms) to uphold our reputation. If you have questions and concerns regarding media coverage, please call Veronica at (323) 482-3073. If you'd like to read news releases from AltaMed, visit our external website, AltaMed.org under Newsroom.