TO: Ballad Health All
FROM: Ballad Health Corporate Emergency Operations Center
DATE: Oct. 7, 2024
TITLE: System updates for Oct. 7
ACTION: Please post and cascade to all team members.
Ballad Health’s Corporate Emergency Operations Center (CEOC) remains active due to ongoing issues caused by severe weather from Hurricane Helene.
Please see below for the most current list of system updates.
The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) remains available to assist team members and their families with confidential mental health and substance abuse services through Ballad Health Counseling Services. Ballad Health provides coverage at no cost. Please review the enclosed list of locations and contact numbers at the bottom of this memo to learn more. Additionally, the 24/7 Respond Crisis Hotline can be reached at 1-800-366-1132.
NEW/UPDATED INFORMATION
Greeneville Community Hospital resumes services, elective surgeries to begin Oct. 8
- Greeneville Community Hospital has resumed all services except for elective surgeries.
- Elective surgical services will resume on Tuesday, Oct. 8.
- Emergency surgery is available.
- Inpatient services resumed on Saturday, Oct. 5, and outpatient services, including lab, sleep and radiology, resumed on Monday, Oct. 7.
- The main entrance and the ED entrance are both open.
Greeneville Center for Early Learning (CEL) planning to resume services
- The Greeneville CEL will resume services on Tuesday, Oct. 8.
- Ballad Health is working to accommodate childcare needs for essential team members.
- Team members who need childcare assistance should contact Pam Smith at Pam.Smith@BalladHealth.org.
Laughlin Healthcare Center services remain suspended, plans to reopen this week
- Residents from Laughlin Healthcare Center in Greeneville were successfully evacuated to Wexford House in Kingsport due to unstable utilities in Greeneville.
- Plans are underway to reopen Laughlin Healthcare the Week of Oct. 7.
Surgeries resumed at Kingsport hospitals
The boil water notice in Kingsport has been lifted, so Holston Valley Medical Center and Indian Path Community Hospital resumed elective surgeries beginning Friday, Oct. 4.
Canceled/resumed classes
- Beginning Monday, Oct. 7, Ballad Health classes will resume on regular schedule. This includes AHA, Clinical Education, CPR, Epic Education, Organizational Development.
- Mandatory licensed nursing skills fairs scheduled in October have been canceled.
Support through Ballad Health Foundation
- Multiple assistance funds have been established:
- The Ballad Health Team Member Emergency Fund is accepting donations that will benefit team members affected by the disaster. See details in the Human Resources section of this memo about how to make a donation to the Team Member Emergency Fund using your PTO.
- The Patient Assistance Fund will benefit patients who have financial needs.
- The Disaster Relief Fund is a greatest need opportunity for support.
- To donate to any of these funds at the Ballad Health Foundation:
- Text “disasterrelief” to 44834 to make a gift.
Donations of relief supplies
- Due to the overwhelming response, the donation of relief supplies and goods is being centralized to the Northeast Tennessee Disaster Relief Center (NETDRC) located in the South Building at Bristol Motor Speedway.
- The NETDRC will serve as a major donation and collection site, provide workspace for the logistics and search and rescue teams in a central staging area, and also house a regional disaster relief hotline, 423-830-2696.
- The donation center is open daily from 8 a.m.- 6 p.m.
- The donation bins available outside of hospital gift shops will be removed on Friday, Oct. 11 and items will be transported to the NTDRC for regional distribution.
REMINDERS
Sycamore Shoals Hospital resumes all services
- Inpatient services resumed on Wednesday, Oct. 2.
- Surgeries resumed on Thursday, Oct. 3.
Human resources
- The flu shot deadline has been extended to Wednesday, Nov. 6.
- Team members who need emergency resources such as food or housing should reach out to:
- 423-431-2426 or ahcn.navigator@balladhealth.org
- Team members who need childcare assistance should reach out to:
- 904-451-2793 or Pam.smith@balladhealth.org
- A one-time PTO (paid time off) cash-in has been approved with the following details:
- A team member can cash in up to 20 hours from their regular PTO bank. Additionally, team members may choose to donate up to 10 hours to the Team Member Emergency Fund (TMEF) to support flood relief and other critical needs, a total of 30 hours.
- You may choose to cash in fewer hours (less than 20) and donate more hours to the TMEF. For example, you can choose to cash in 15 hours and donate 15 hours, or donate all 30 hours to the TMEF and forgo receiving a PTO cash-in.
- All hours will be treated as income and taxed accordingly. For any hours donated to the TMEF, the foundation will provide documentation that can be used to support a charitable donation of the amount contributed.
- You will need to maintain at least 20 hours in your PTO bank after cash-in and donated hours are deducted. If you do not have enough hours in your PTO bank to cover the cash-in and donation and maintain a balance of 20 hours, then the time will be deducted from your frozen personal bank.
- You can view your plan balances in the HR and Payroll Service Center by clicking on the PTO Balance icon on the home page.
- You can elect to have your PTO cash-in rolled into your Health Savings Account (HSA) or your Lincoln retirement account.
- The request form will be active Monday, Oct. 7, and will remain posted until Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 5 p.m. No exceptions to the time frame.
- Foundation donations will be processed and donated on the check dated Nov. 8; PTO cash-in requests will be processed and paid out on the check dated Nov. 22. HSA and retirement plan rollovers will be processed on the demand check run dated Nov. 26.
External resources for team member assistance
- Ballad Health has liaisons available at EMA shelters throughout the region for overall coordination including connectivity to all Ballad Health resources.
- To contact a liaison, email at EPMO_Projects@balladhealth.org (Note, the email address contains an underscore symbol) or 423-979-6178.
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency has a site with various resources, including how to apply for assistance. It includes links to state-specific resources.
Medical Response Unit operations continue in Erwin
- Located in the auditorium parking lot of Unicoi County High School in Erwin, the site provides 24/7 first aid, triage for minor illnesses and injuries and stabilization, including:
- Basic treatment of infections
- Stabilization and transfer for trauma and serious conditions
- Respiratory infections
- Skin infections
- Located at 700 S. Mohawk Drive in Erwin, Tenn.
- Unicoi County Hospital team members will be staffing the unit around the clock until further notice.
Flood recovery safety guidelines
- Anyone involved in disaster cleanup should check their tetanus vaccine status. Team members who are not up to date on their tetanus vaccine may present to any Team Member Health office and receive a TdaP vaccines free of charge.
- If working in muddy areas should wear a mask or respirator as there is a possibility toxins, irritants, chemicals and bacteria have settled into the mud and could be released as a microscopic airborne dust.
- If you or your family have a bee allergy, please be aware the flooding has disturbed bee hives so please have all need supplies on hand— EpiPens and Benadryl as prescribed by your healthcare provider.
- Prior to the floods, there was already an increase in West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis, diseases spread by mosquitos. If working outside, please:
- Use insect repellent
- Wear loose-fitting long sleeve shirts and pants to cover all exposed skin
- Additional tips can be found here: Preventing Mosquito Bites | Mosquitoes | CDC
- Vaccine considerations – Hepatitis A vaccine is a routinely recommended vaccine for adults and children. Being exposed to floodwater is not a recommendation for this vaccine, but it’s still important to ensure you are up to date with all routinely recommended vaccines.
- For health and safety questions or concerns related to flooding or power outages due to the hurricane, call the Northeast Regional Health Office’s Citizen Information Line at 423-979-4689, Monday through Friday between 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Volunteer coordination
Interested in volunteering? Volunteers can sign-up via Smartsheet with their name, contact information, desired locations and any relevant credentials. This will create a contact group and allow Ballad Health to best align volunteers with needs.
Send us your Mission Moments
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, our team members are bearing witness to incredible compassion, volunteerism, support and heroism.
To share these stories, Ballad Health has online systems for team members to submit their photos and experiences the Smartsheet form or click the “Mission Moment” button within the Ballad Teams mobile app. Please fill out the provided fields and provide any photos or other documents.
Please note: Only send photos you have taken – please do not share photos or videos posted on social media or sent to you from other sources.
Questions
For questions, please contact the Ballad Health Corporate Emergency Operations Center at BalladHealthCorporateEOC@BalladHealth.org.
