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All information contained in this email is confidential and not to be shared outside of the organization.
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TO:
All Members of the RWJUH Family
FROM: John J. Gantner, President and CEO, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
RE:
RWJUH COVID-19 Update
Today’s update includes a brief summary of where RWJUH stands with the COVID-19 pandemic. I also shared a few examples of our community’s appreciation of your efforts.
Situational Update
First off, in yesterday’s update, I did not recognize the CCU and 4W among the dedicated COVID-19 units. That was my oversight. So today I will begin my update by recognizing and thanking the dedicated team members on these units.
As of this morning, RWJUH was managing 35 COVID-19 inpatients and holding another 12 patients for COVID-19 test results. These levels are essentially unchanged from yesterday. Statewide, the number of confirmed COVID-19 patients is on the rise. With nearly 4,400 confirmed cases, New Jersey ranks second only to New York in the number of COVID-19 positives.
RWJUH continues to coordinate daily activities out of the Command Center where a major focus is maintenance of adequate PPE levels. Because of your adherence to PPE conservation measures and your overall cooperation, our PPE levels remain adequate.
Another key component of the Surge Plan is patient visitation. Earlier this week, I implemented a no visitors policy in Labor & Delivery. As with all of the difficult decisions that I have made over the past three weeks, the sole reason for restricting visitation was to safeguard staff and patients. That policy was not well received by the community. Today, we activated a new policy that allows for limited visitation in L&D pursuant to (1) mandatory health screenings, (2) strict PPE protocols and (3) wherein all visitations are tracked by the RWJUH Security team. These measures far exceed the typical visitation safeguards and can be viewed in their entirety on our website.
Childcare
Temporary emergency child care for RWJBH employees is available at Lakeview Child Care Center.
CLICK HERE
for information about locations and rates.
Your Efforts are Appreciated
Challenges as we are presently experiencing with COVID-19 cause significant angst, but also bring out the very best in people. I want to share just a few examples of recent gestures that attest to our community’s appreciation of the lifesaving work that all of you do each day.
- In the past two weeks, we have had four local merchants deliver food to Hospital employees as their way of supporting and thanking you for caring. Those merchants include:
- Tacoria (New Brunswick)
- Mr. Subs (North Brunswick)
- Giddy’s Pizzeria (East Brunswick)
- Ellery’s Pub & Grill (Middlesex)
- Without any formal solicitation, two local families made significant donations to RWJUH to help team members through this crisis.
- Several physicians, who have had to scale back on their medical practices, contacted the Hospital to volunteer in areas such as critical care training.
These are just a few of many such examples of community support. I wanted to share these good feelings with you.
CLICK HERE
for today's daily update from the RWJBarnabas Health system offices.
#RWJUHSTRONG
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Medical Staff Lounge
Send your
#RWJUHSTRONG
photos to
chris.hoenig@rwjbh.org
and we'll feature them in the daily emails and on the new screen in the Courtyard!
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RWJUH COVID Situational Update
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As of 12:00 PM,
RWJUH
had
35 COVID-positive patients
in the hospital. Tests on additional patients and potential discharges of positive patients were pending. 17 patients were in ICU level of care.
RWJUH has had 69 COVID 19-positive tests to date.
SBMU
,
RCU
and
4 West
are cohorting
COVID-positive med/surg
patients (IMCs on 4 West).
MICU
&
CCU
are cohorting
COVID-positive ICU
patients, with the former
SICU-CORE
space being prepared to take COVID-positive ICU patients, as well. (Non-COVID MICU patients have been reassigned to the former SICU-West space.)
As of 1:00 PM, the
NJ Dept. of Health
is reporting
4,402 COVID-positive patients
in the state -- an
increase of 732
from yesterday -- and
62 deaths
. Of those, 316 positive patients are in Middlesex County, 313 are in Monmouth County, and 117 are in Somerset County.
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Surgical Masks Available - UPDATED LOCATION
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A
new masking policy
is going into effect.
Clinicians may pick up a surgical mask in the East Tower Rotunda from 7a-7p daily.
Please present your ID.
On off-hours, masks can be signed out at the Information Desk in the Courtyard.
Masks can be used on
non-COVID units
for an
entire day
and discarded when you leave the hospital. If the mask becomes
wet or soiled
, please discard and request a new mask.
For
COVID-cohorted units
, please follow PPE protocols when seeing patients.
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- RWJUH, along with the entire RWJBarnabas Health system, continue to manage our supplies, including PPE, medications, and equipment like ventilators. At this time, RWJUH continues to maintain an adequate stock of PPE. While our material team continues to source additional supplies and we are accepting donations, we are meeting staff needs at this time.
- RWJUH is eliminating the ventilation portion for all Nuclear Medicine Lung scans for the foreseeable future. This is to protect our patients and staff alike, because of possible room contamination during the aerosol administration. If you believe your patient needs a lung scan, please obtain a Chest X-ray, PA and Lateral preferably, since aerosol ventilation is not being performed. Perfusion imaging alone, will often be diagnostic at ruling in or ruling out pulmonary embolism, particularly with a normal or near normal Chest X-ray.
- The triage tent outside the Emergency Department continues to work really well. ED leadership is evaluating expanding hours in the tent.
- Updated guidance is available on the cleaning and reuse of goggles and face shields. CLICK HERE for details.
- ALL donation offers -- including, but not limited to, masks, electronics (such as iPads/phones), food, money and volunteering -- must be approved by RWJUH leadership. Please email the Medical Staff Office at rwjnbma@rwjbh.org and the RWJUH Command Center at rwjnb-command@rwjbh.org with all offers and donation-related questions.
- If you are concerned you may have been exposed to a COVID-19 positive patient, either in the community or in the hospital, please self-monitor your symptoms, including checking your temperature twice a day. Report any symptoms/temperature over 100.0 to RWJUH Corporate Care/Employee Health.
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Now Seeking Volunteers - Calls, Rounds & Ventilation Assistance
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As the number of COVID-positive patients (and clinicians) increases, we are working on plans to
maintain our clinical staff
to provide great care for our patients.
IF YOU WOULD BE INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING TO ROUND AND TAKE CALLS AT RWJUH
(for COVID and/or non-COVID patients),
please fill out the form below
.
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Additionally, RWJUH may look to clinicians to
help set patients on ventilators
should the surge in intubated patients outpace our Respiratory Therapy capacity. Clinicians may volunteer to assist with ventilating patients.
CLICK HERE
for a brief overview on how to operate the models of ventilator used at RWJUH.
NOTE: We have not yet reached the level where we are calling on volunteers to begin rounding. This process is to allow us to build our contact lists, if the need to activate volunteers.
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Donations: iPads & iPhones
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Thank you for all of the
mask donation offers
. We are coordinating with hospital leadership, Foundation leadership and the materials management team on each offer.
The hospital is also accepting donations of iPads and iPhones
, which we can utilize in patient rooms to provide patients with easier connectivity to staff and physicians (via specialized apps), as well as their families and loved ones.
Please contact the
RWJUH Medical Staff Office
at
rwjnbma@rwjbh.org
if you or someone you know would like to donate.
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These links are provided solely for your consideration. The RWJUH Medical Staff Office is not providing these as recommendations for care of patients.
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REMINDER: Call For IP Approval BEFORE
Ordering COVID-19 Testing
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RWJUH
is continuing to conduct a
LIMITED
number of COVID-19 tests
in-house.
ALL REQUESTS FOR COVID-19 TESTING MUST GO THROUGH INFECTION PREVENTION
.
The NEW phone number for testing approval is
732-947-9620
.
NOTE: This is a new phone number, opened Tuesday.
PLEASE DO NOT SHARE THIS NUMBER WITH ANYONE OUTSIDE OF RWJUH.
DO NOT CALL THE COVID-19 HOSPITALIST TEAM SEEKING ASSISTANCE IN GETTING TESTING APPROVED
. The Hospitalist team is focused on caring for these patients and does not influence testing decisions.
For Infection Prevention questions, please use extensions
2480
/
4482
/
7552
/
4474
during regular business hours. The public may call
1-800-222-1222
for any COVID-19 questions.
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Do NOT Send Patients To ED Unless
They Require Hospitalization
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Please
do
NOT
send patients to the RWJUH Emergency Department for COVID-19 testing
unless they require hospitalization
.
Due to a
shortage of swabs and viral transport medium
, RWJUH is currently unable to test everyone who comes into the Emergency Department.
As noted above, all tests require the approval of RWJUH Infection Prevention.
Outpatient testing facilities
are now open in several NJ counties.
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Are You Under Quarantine?
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If you are
presently under quarantine
, please contact the
Medical Staff Office
at
RWJNBMA@rwjbh.org
or
(732) 937-8767
.
Providers under quarantine should
contact RWJUH Corporate Care/Employee Health
for
clearance to return
to work. You may also need clearance from your employer.
Please
provide documentation to the Medical Staff Office
of your clearance to return to work.
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In addition to being a closed service,
SBMU, RCU, MICU and CCU
are
closed units
for the protection of our patients and providers.
Please do not enter SBMU, RCU, MICU or CCU
unless asked or consulted by the
COVID-19 Hospitalist or Intensivist
team.
This is both for
your protection
- limiting your risk of exposure to the virus - and in the interest of
high quality patient care
, keeping the patients treatment limited to teams that are trained and gaining expertise in COVID-19.
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Every weekday morning, a
video briefing
by
Dr. Jim Salwitz
will be released, providing an update on COVID-19 activity at RWJUH and the implementation of the hospital's action plan.
BOOKMARK THIS PAGE
and check daily for updates.
New briefings will be posted at approximately 10:00 AM.
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- Blood donations continue to be needed. CLICK HERE to schedule an appointment with the RWJUH Blood Services team.
- The Courtyard doors right beside Starbucks, leading to/from the East Tower, are being closed and made swipe-access only. The doors nearest the East Tower elevators will no longer require a swipe.
- New guidelines are in place for the handling of COVID-positive decedents. All expirations of COVID-positive patients must be reported to the Medical Examiner's office and the NJ DOH Communicable Disease alert statement must be included, with COVID-19 written in as the infectious agent. CLICK HERE for the full guidelines.
- ALL transfers into RWJUH must be reviewed and approved by the Service Chief. Any patients that have tested positive for, or suspected of having COVID-19 must be approved by the Chief Medical Officer or his designee.
- ALL coordination with government officials must be handled through hospital leadership. If you have questions or suggestions for state leaders, please email Dr. Salwitz and he will coordinate with RWJUH leadership.
- Additionally, all members of the Medical Staff are expected to protect confidential information, including the information contained in this email. DO NOT SHARE with the press or on social media. Given the volatility of the current environment, especially on social media, you should always use caution in what you post. If you are approached by the media for interviews, please reach out to the RWJUH Medical Staff Office to aid in clearing with the hospital Public Affairs team any hospital information that can be shared.
- At the current time, due to a shortage in swabs and viral transport medium, RWJUH is only taking swabs from patients who are previously approved to be tested. Additionally, in the interest of conserving swabs and viral transport medium for patients requiring COVID-19 testing, please do not order any Respiratory Virus Panels (RVPs) until further notice.
- Additionally, the IP team continues to assess guidance regarding quarantining during this time. The latest guidance/policy change keeps RWJBH employees at work after an exposure as long as there is no evidence of even mild symptoms. Exposed staff will wear a surgical mask for 14 days. As of now, a return to work may be allowed after 7 days of improving respiratory symptoms IF the COVID-positive patient is afebrile for 72 hours, without the need for medication. CLICK HERE to read the RWJBH Return to Work Policy.
- Please ensure your ID is visible at all times. RWJUH continues to evaluate campus entrance points to ensure the safety of our patients, clinicians and staff.
- Leaders at Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital continue finalizing plans to cohort all pediatric patients with respiratory illness, including COVID 19-positive patients and PUIs.
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Additional Useful Resources
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Previous RWJUH COVID-19 Updates:
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