TO: Ballad Health Leaders (Managers, Directors, AVP, VP, SVP, EVP)
FROM: Ballad Health Corporate Emergency Operations Center
DATE: March 27, 2020
TITLE: Daily COVID-19 briefing – March 27, 2020
ACTION: Please post and cascade to all team members. This is a review of the major activities that occurred today related to the COVID-19 response.
Doctor’s Day is March 30
National Doctor’s Day is Monday, March 30, and it marks an occasion to show appreciation for the physicians throughout our health system and honor the service they provide to their patients and our communities.
To help slow the spread of COVID-19, Ballad Health will not host any celebratory events this year, but we encourage everyone to acknowledge how much our doctors mean to us as individuals and as part of the Ballad Health team – especially during this challenging time. Our doctors are on the frontlines of this pandemic, which makes this year’s Doctor’s Day even more poignant.
We look forward to celebrating our medical staff, along with our entire Ballad Health team, during National Healthcare Week in May 2020.
Moments of light
As we fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Ballad Health team members are doing what they do best – caring for the minds, bodies and souls of people in the Appalachian Highlands.
Even as we focus much of our energy on containing and slowing the spread of COVID-19, we still want to recognize and celebrate the many moments, actions and people that make Ballad Health so special.
Recently, a patient came to Bristol Regional Medical Center with a broken arm. During her stay, she developed other issues that required surgery and a longer length of stay – and, per Ballad Health’s visitation guidelines, she was alone.
The patient’s daughter asked team members if they could assist her with FaceTime to keep the patient connected and calm. The team rose to the occasion by not only accommodating the request, but helping the patient open her phone to read messages from friends and family members.
Their actions weren’t just appreciated by the patient and her family. They were featured on the “Next Question with Katie Couric” podcast – you can listen here at the :48 minute mark. Many thanks to the following team members who were involved in this patient’s care: Suzanne Stinson, Katie Buchanan, Alicia Deel and Annette Austin.
Do you have a story or team member you’d like to recognize? Let us know by sending an email to BalladHealthCorporateEOC@balladhealth.org.
Additional points to note
- Today, the total positive case count of COVID-19 patients diagnosed at a Ballad Health facility nearly doubled. Now it is more important than ever to encourage your friends and family members to stay at home and practice proper social distancing. Starting this weekend, we will be running an advertising campaign that will help support this initiative. We are distributing these flyers throughout the system and we encourage you to print these and share them with your team.
- All team members and physicians providing direct patient care at our inpatient, acute care, long-term care, homecare, hospice and cancer center facilities are being issued one surgical face mask at the beginning of their shifts. We are implementing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for extended use and reuse of surgical masks.
- Out of an abundance of caution and in keeping with physical distancing recommendations, Ballad Health, Bristol Tennessee City Schools and Bristol Virginia Public Schools are cancelling the Power of Health Expo and Power of Play 5K, which had been set for April 25 at Bristol Regional Medical Center. Pre-registered participants for the 5K will be contacted by event organizers to receive their refund.
- If a team member is experiencing any symptoms – fever, cough, sore throat – do not come in to work. Contact your direct supervisor, and then Team Member Health at your facility.
- Weekend drive-thru testing will be available starting this weekend. All 12 hospital sites will be open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Testing is coordinated through Nurse Connect referrals – any member of the public who thinks they might be at-risk for COVID-19 should call 833-822-5523 to be screened.
- All COVID-19 updates and information will continue to be shared to balladhealth.org/COVID19.
Total positive COVID-19 case count:
- Tennessee – 1,203 total; 33 in Appalachian Highlands (per health department data)
- Virginia – 604; four in Appalachian Highlands (per health department data)
In case you missed it, follow the links below to learn more…
- Watch Ballad Health’s live COVID-19 update from March 26
- Help stop the spread of COVID-19 by staying Safer at Home
