November 22, 2021

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• Atlantic General COVID-19 Update
• Detailed COVID-19 Report
• Thanksgiving Service
• Holiday Greeting
• Penguin Swim Volunteers Needed
• October Performance Improvement and Patient Safety Report Card
• Message from AGHRx RediScripts
• Welcome New Associates!
• Monitoring System Upgrade
• Safety Ambassadors
• Associates Campaign Fundraiser
• Looking for HELP
• Christmas Parade Volunteers Needed
• PTO Donation
• Guest Bartender Night at Burley Oak
• Joint Commission Corner
• Weekly Reflection
• Wellness Update

Based on a request to provide a more inclusive roll up of our current population, we will provide numbers for Covid-19 positive patients who are outside of the 10-21 day case-based isolation window (but still inpatient) in addition to those with active disease. This will help better represent the acuity of the in house census.

Current COVID-positive inpatients:

Med Surg:

• 8 patients total with COVID-related admission diagnosis
• 6 positives on isolation (2 vapotherm) (1 vaccinated)

ICU:

• 2 positives (2 vapotherm)

So far, our caregivers have cared for 14 patients who came off a ventilator and are breathing on their own and we have discharged 466 patients with COVID-19 who are on their way to recovery.

Important Vaccination Update

AGH Leadership continues to monitor federal, state and local changes to healthcare and employment laws to ensure we are compliant with the latest regulations. It is our goal to serve our community and support our associates within these laws, executive orders and other mandates. The following changes are significant in how we are managing employee health within the COVID landscape. Please review these changes carefully and direct any questions to your local leader, employee health or any member of the senior leadership team. We are here to support you. 

Federal Government Mandate

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new rule (Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Interim Final Rule) for hospitals that receive Medicare funding. To remain eligible for Medicare payment, all associates, providers, volunteers, vendors, students and contracted staff must be vaccinated or have a medical or religious exemption documented and on file, or CMS “may use enforcement remedies, such as civil monetary penalties, denial of payment, and even termination from the Medicare and Medicaid program as a final measure”. In short, funding will be removed from hospitals that do not follow the rule. For clarity, this mandate is different than the OSHA mandate that you may have heard about recently in the news. Atlantic General Hospital will comply with this CMS rule to ensure we may continue to serve our community.

What does this mean to associates, providers, volunteers, vendors, students and contract staff?

·    All associates, providers (employed and non-employed), volunteers, vendors, students and contract staff must have their initial COVID vaccination with documentation submitted to Employee Health by December 5^th, 2021.

·   All associates, providers (employed and non-employed), volunteers, vendors, students and contract staff must have their second (n/a for Janssen) COVID vaccination with documentation submitted to Employee Health by January 4^th, 2022.

·   Any associate, provider (employed and non-employed), volunteer, vendor, student or contract staff with a bona fide medical or religious exemption should contact or visit the Employee Health to discuss the exemption process. Any exemption request must be fully completed and submitted before close of business on November 30^th, 2021 to ensure it can be reviewed prior to the Dec 5^th vaccination deadline.

State Mandate Update

AGH has also been following the Maryland Secretary of Health’s mandate to have associates, providers, etc. vaccinated or tested on a weekly basis. This state order is still in effect and does not change. If you are not vaccinated, you must continue to test weekly.

Note from Senior Leadership

We value all of our associates, providers (employed and non-employed), volunteers, vendors, students and contract staff and want to support you through these changes. We are available for review of the Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Interim Final Rule if you have additional questions. Thank you for choosing to CARE for others at AGH. 

Notice: Vaccine Exemption forms can be found in the Navigation bar on the left side of the Intranet home page.

Maryland

Total Cases – 578,851 (+832)

Deaths – 10,896 (+8)

Currently Hospitalized - 581 (+10)

Intensive Care - 143

Positivity Rate:

State Wide: 7 Day avg. 3.62% (+.13%) 

                       15.38 per 100k pop.  

Wicomico

Cases - 11,533

Deaths - 232

7 Day Positivity Rate 7.63%

19.44 Per 100k population

Worcester

Cases - 5,173

Deaths – 124

7 Day Positivity rate 4.65% 

11.48 Per 100k population

Somerset

Cases - 3,429

Deaths - 54

7 Day Positivity rate 5.2%

10.04 Per 100k population

Delaware

Total cases - 148,674

Deaths - 2,159

Currently hospitalized - 167

State Wide: 7 Day avg. - 7.4%

Sussex

Cases - 36,907

Deaths - 647

7 Day avg. positive test rate 6.1%

Kent

Cases - 27,536

7 Day avg. positive test rate 9.3%

New Castle

Cases - 85,521

7 Day avg. positive test rate 7.7%

Virginia

Total cases – 957,570

Deaths – 14,548

Currently Hospitalized – 846

State Positivity Rate 5.9% PCR Only

Eastern Shore of Virginia

8.7% Positivity Rate

15.9 per 100k. population

TidalHealth Peninsula Regional

17 Positive

4 PUI

2 Deaths over the weekend

TidalHealth Nanticoke

8 Positive

0 PUI

1 Deaths

State/Local/National News

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle Walensky, signed off on the expanded eligibility on Friday evening after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) broadened its authorization of booster doses to all adults who had received their second shot of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccine at least six months prior.

BALTIMORE (AP)- Nursing students at the University of Maryland are getting an early jump on their post-graduate careers. The university's nursing school is allowing its students who are scheduled to graduate on Dec. 23 to leave a few weeks early and begin working in the field. The move is motivated by a nursing shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic.   

Congregate Living: Only Nursing Homes listed on the State website appear on the AGH EOC report.

Bay Care Assisted Living of Pocomoke: 1 Case (updated 11/16/21)

Peak Healthcare - Hartley Hall: 10 Cases (updated 11/16/21)

Woodlands - Ocean Pines: 1 Cases (updated 11/16/21)

Wicomico Nursing Home: 1 Case (updated 11/16/21)

School Data

Berlin Intermediate School                             Worcester       2          

Buckingham Elementary School                    Worcester       17       

Ocean City Elementary School                      Worcester       4        

Stephen Decatur High School                        Worcester       7         

Stephen Decatur Middle School                     Worcester       16     

Worcester Preparatory School                       Worcester       2           

Pemberton Elementary School                       Wicomico       5      

Salisbury Baptist Academy                            Wicomico       11        

Salisbury Christian School                             Wicomico       9          

St. Francis de Sales Catholic School             Wicomico       7         

Stepping Stones Learning Academy              Wicomico       4          

Crisfield High School                                     Somerset        39          

Greenwood Elementary School                     Somerset        21          

Somerset Intermediate School                       Somerset        29        

Washington High School                               Somerset        28           

Currently, 84% of Maryland's 8,000 hospital beds are occupied.

Occupied M/S Beds: 5,838

Occupied ICU Beds: 874

Total: 6,712

*These numbers are for COVID and non-COVID hospitalizations.

Pastoral Care Services invites you join us in the Chapel on Wednesday, November 24, 2021 at 1:00pm for our Thanksgiving Day Service.

For those who are not able to attend, you can view the service written by Chaplain Gail Mansell by clicking the button below.

It’s time to share our holiday greetings with the community! Forever Media will be here on Wednesday, December 1, from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m., to record greetings from any departments that would like to participate. The greetings will then be placed on the hospital on-hold system and will be played periodically on Forever Media’s radio station, The Wave 97.1.

Recording will take place in Conference Room 2 at the hospital. Each recording will take approximately 2 minutes to complete. A selection of scripts from which to choose is below.

You can alter the script as necessary, and if you would like to make up your own script – even better! If you are interested in recording a greeting, please speak with your department leadership and have them send your desired time and script choice to Jarrett Snoots (jsnoots@atlanticgeneral.org).

NOTE: Please wear a surgical mask, rather than a cloth face covering, to your recording. 

Click the following buttons to view available times and scripts.

Click the image below to view the complete October Performance Improvement & Patient Safety Report Card

Team,

With our Thanksgiving Holiday just around the corner, your staff at AGHRx RediScripts Pharmacy would like to remind you that AGHRx RediScripts Pharmacy will be open for reduced hours in observance of the Thanksgiving Holiday as listed below.  Please be sure to check your families' supply of maintenance medications to ensure that you have an ample supply of all of your essential medications to carry you through the upcoming holiday.  Also, please cascade to your teams accordingly to ensure that patients being discharged are not routed to pick up prescriptions outside of our operating hours on 11/25/21 AND 11/26/21. AGHRx RediScripts Pharmacy will resume normal hours of operation on Saturday 11/27/21 9am to 5pm. 

As a convenience we have provided a list of local pharmacies and their business hours during the holiday should you, a family member, or a patient of ours were to need prescription services during a time that AGHRx Rediscripts Pharmacy is closed.

Thank you for your continued support of AGHRx RediScripts Pharmacy. Have a great holiday.

Thanksgiving

Thursday 11/25/21 CLOSED

Rite Aid Berlin: 9-3

Rite Aid Ocean Pines: 9-3

Wal-Mart Berlin: CLOSED

CVS West Ocean City: 9-2

PRMC Homescripts Ocean Pines: CLOSED

Walgreens Ocean Pines: CLOSED

Friday 11/26/21 CLOSED reopening Saturday 11/27/21 9am-5pm (normal hours of operation)

Rite Aid Berlin: 8-8

Rite Aid Ocean Pines: 9-8

Wal-Mart Berlin: 9-7

CVS West Ocean City: 8-8

PRMC Homescripts Ocean Pines: 8-6

Walgreens Ocean Pines: 9-8

HUGGS in action welcomes new associates!

Front row seated (left to right): Falonne Cesar, Med-Surg; Davette Montgomery, Med-Surg; Gracie Revel, Med-Surg; Noel Marshall, Med-Surg

Second row standing (left to right): Nancy Cruz, Lab Administration; Kelly Curcio, Registration; Jamya Northam, Registration; Nicole Fry, Palliative Care; Chermika Wescott, AGHS Surgical



Back row standing (left to right): Patricia Foskey, AHC; Mark Encarnacion, Plant Operations; Andrew Jock, Med-Surg

*Attention RNs in ICU, ED, Med-Surg and Surgical Services PACU/ASU*

Nihon Kohden Monitoring System Upgrade Coming Soon!

New HealthStream assignment in your To-Do list!

Due date: December 1, 2021



Completion of this module helps prepares you for the upcoming upgrade.

Although you may not have been selected as a Safety Ambassador, there are many who act as a safety ambassador hero every day.  We would like to thank those who submitted SIRs to help our organization improve.  Accolades go out to the staff members who have prevented an event from occurring by chart checks, identifying/verifying medications, proper patient identifications, safety ideas, taking the extra steps to investigate an event and the reporting of their own mistakes/errors/events to help improve our system.

Please visit the Patient Safety and Risk Management Portal on the intranet to read the stories of our Safety Ambassadors.  

Remember, Everyone has the power to “Stop the line”.   Empowered reporting lets our System Improvement Reporting work for you and our patients. Become a safety ambassador hero.

            P= Preventive    O= Observation    W= with    E= Empowered    R= Reporting

Congratulations to our October 2021 Safety Ambassadors!

Alecia Jones

Brittany marvel

Carla Nock

Christy Berry

Danielle Powell

Kayla Wallace

Kim Lambertson

Kim Richardson

Kimberly Malin

Krasimira Purnell

Milette Hacek

Robert Camilleri

Sherri Candeloro

ATTENTION: There's only one week left to place your orders!

Please click the button below to access the order form and payroll deduction form.

Do you have a special knowledge regarding self-care that you would be willing to share with your co-workers?

As we adjust to the ‘new normal’, we realize the importance of taking care of ourselves. Without self-care, we can’t be at our best to care for our patients. Nurses are under a tremendous amount of stress and strain and we’d like to provide them with information that they might find useful in increasing their resiliency. 

If you are willing to share what works for you, please contact the Education Department (ext. 9538) as we are planning a Resiliency Fair as a venue to spread the word on helpful self-care techniques

Please come show your support and walk in the upcoming community Christmas Parades in support of Atlantic General Hospital and our communities. The activities committee is busy preparing our float which theme this year is about Healthcare Heroes and the Covid vaccine. We are approved for the following parades:

Berlin Christmas Parade – Thursday, December 2^nd at 7:00pm

Selbyville Christmas Parade – Friday, December 3^rd at 7:00pm

Ocean City Parade – Saturday, December 4^th at 11:00am

We need as many volunteers as we can get. Please email Erin Cowder at ecowder@atlanticgeneral.org if you can participate. 

Angel Tipton from AGHS has notified us that she is willing to accept any P.T.O. that associates may be willing to donate to her for Family Medical Leave.

If you are interested in donating P.T.O. to Angel Tipton, please complete the Donation of P.T.O. Form that is attached to this memo and return it to Jennifer O’Leary in Human Resources. Fax 410-641-9715 or email: joleary@atlanticgeneral.org or Inter-Office Mailbox #27. Additional forms are available in the HR office.

Thank you for your consideration of this request to assist a fellow associate. 

Join us TONIGHT at Burley Oak to get served a drink by some familiar faces!

The Joint Commission Standards Focus

TJC Corner for November 22, 2021

SPEAK UP!

Atlantic General Hospital has a SPEAK UP! 24/7 hotline any associate may call to express concerns or suspicions with no retaliation. We encourage all associates to SPEAK UP! about:

Patient Safety

Associate Safety

Harassment/Bullying

Issues where you feel as an organization we are not upholding our Mission, Vision, and Values

Call 410-641-9766



• The Joint Commission Standard LD.03.01.01: Leaders create and maintain a culture of safety and quality throughout the hospital.
• Safety and quality thrive in an environment that supports teamwork and respect for other people, regardless of their position in the hospital.
• Leaders encourage teamwork and create structures, processes, and programs that allow this positive culture to flourish.
• Behavior that intimidates others and affects morale or staff turnover and undermines a culture of safety and can be harmful to patient care.
• Leaders must address such behavior in individuals working at all levels of the hospital, including management, clinical and administrative staff, licensed independent practitioners, and governing body members.

Last week’s Joint Commission Question:

We had 12 correct answers to The Joint Commission question of the week and the winners of the $10 gift cards were Amanda Seaton from EVS and Michelle Simshauser from the lab. The winners are drawn randomly.

The answer to last week’s question:

Which requirement protects patients who have true emergency medical conditions from refusal of care and unnecessary transfer?

a.      Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule

b.      Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)

c.      Federal laws that are integrated into Medicare and Medicaid regulatory requirements

d.      There are no requirements that protect who have true emergency medical conditions from refusal of care and unnecessary transfer

Question of the week for 11.26.2021 (email to byocubik@atlanticgeneral.org by 11 am on Friday).



Why is it important to speak up?

a.    Speaking up supports the mission, vision and Values of the organization

b.    Speaking up creates a culture of safety and quality. Which is a Joint Commission standard requirement

c.    Speaking up can prevent harassment and or bullying

d.    All of the above

Chaplain Gail is available to offer you support and words of encouragement.

You may call Gail at 410-641-9725 or send an email: gmansell@atlanticgeneral.org

Stay Strong & Power On!

Weekly COVID-19 testing for associates has been moved to AGH.

The new testing site will be located in the hallway outside of the infusion center.

Please use the Memorial Garden entrance by the DAISY statue to access.



Testing occurs Tuesdays, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.

* Any associate, provider (employed and non-employed), volunteer, vendor, student or contract staff with a bona fide medical or religious exemption should contact or visit Employee Health to discuss the exemption process. Any exemption request must be fully completed and submitted before close of business on November 30th, 2021, to ensure it can be reviewed prior to the Dec. 5th vaccination deadline.

Exemption forms can be found in the Navigation bar on the left side of the Intranet home page.

Look for our rolling flu cart on the following days:

Monday        Nov 22 7am - 10am

Wednesday  Nov 24 5pm – 8pm

Friday           Nov 26 7am - 10am

Please contact Employee Health 410 641-9190 if you need to schedule a time

to receive your flu vaccine.

December 1st is the deadline for the flu vaccine!

 *Per AGH/AGHS Mandatory Influenza Policy, all healthcare personnel will be required to provide: Annual documentation of influenza vaccination or an approved declination with documentation from licensed physician or clergy indicating evidence-based contraindication against vaccination by December 1, 2021

Wellness Events:

Webinar: Dining out the Healthy Way (10 pts)

Date: 12/16/21

Time: 11:00am – 11:30am

Register Here