The deadline for all team members to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 is Friday, March 11, at 5 p.m. – unless they have an approved exemption. The Community Vaccination Center (CVC) at The Mall at Johnson City is open for vaccinations Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. As previously announced, due to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) COVID-19 vaccination mandate, Ballad Health must comply with the rule and ensure our team members are vaccinated unless they have an approved medical or religious exemption. You can receive a COVID-19 vaccination at the CVC at The Mall at Johnson City today until 6 p.m. and on Friday. Remember, although the CVC stays open until 6 p.m. on Friday, the deadline for team members to receive the vaccination is 5 p.m. Friday, so please plan accordingly. Vaccinations are available to the community at CVS, Walgreens, Food City,…

TO: Ballad Health All FROM: Ballad Health Corporate Emergency Operations Center DATE: Feb. 11, 2022 TITLE: Extension of CVC hours to include Friday, Feb. 11 ACTION: Please post and cascade to all team members.   The deadline for team members to receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination is Friday, Feb. 11, by 5 p.m. This applies to first-dose for the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines and single-dose for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. To make vaccination more convenient for team members, Ballad Health has extended the hours of operation for our Community Vaccination Center (CVC) located at The Mall at Johnson City. In addition to normal operating hours, the CVC will also be open on Friday, Feb. 11, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Remember, team members must have their proof of vaccination submitted to Team Member Health by 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 11, so team members receiving their shot on Friday should be aware of that…

TO: Ballad Health All FROM: Ballad Health Corporate Emergency Operations Center DATE: Feb. 8, 2022 TITLE: Extension: Crisis Standards of Care; Strategies to Mitigate Healthcare Personnel Staffing Shortages ACTION: Please post and cascade to all team members.   Due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 and its impact to our team members and healthcare workers across the country, Ballad Health will continue to follow the CDC’s updated guidance for strategies to mitigate healthcare personnel staffing shortages until Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, when we will reevaluate to determine if crisis standards should be maintained or downgraded. Additionally, contact tracing will remain suspended until reevaluation on Feb. 14. Update on COVID visitation guidelines As a follow-up to our announcement last week regarding updated visitation guidelines which took effect Monday, Feb. 7, for COVID-positive patients, please note that Ballad Health’s Family Birth Centers will continue their current practice of allowing one support person to stay during labor and post-labor, and…

TO: Ballad Health All FROM: Ballad Health Corporate Emergency Operations Center DATE: Feb. 4, 2022 TITLE: Visitation update for COVID-positive patients ACTION: Post and cascade to all team members   Ballad Health has implemented changes to our visitation guidelines for COVID-related patients, effective Monday, Feb. 7. These changes do not apply to other types of visitations and no changes have been made for visitation to other types of patients. Changes to visitation for patients positive for COVID-19 are: One visitor is permitted at a time. Visitors may rotate out. It does not have to be one designated visitor, just one at a time. One visitor may stay overnight; however, personal protective equipment (PPE) must be worn by the visitor while in the room. Once the visitor is in the room for the night, they may not leave and then come back except to visit the restroom. If the visitor leaves the patient room to visit the restroom, the visitor must…

TO: Ballad Health All FROM: Ballad Health Corporate Emergency Operations Center DATE: Jan. 27, 2022 TITLE: Crisis Standards of Care; Strategies to Mitigate Healthcare Personnel Staffing Shortages ACTION: Please post and cascade to all team members. To view this document as a PDF, click here.   This communication contains important information on the following items. PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO REVIEW THIS DOCUMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY. Adoption of new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance for Crisis Standards of Care as it relates to strategies to mitigate healthcare personnel staffing shortages until Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. No contact tracing until Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. Required masking, eye protection and PPE. Effective immediately, one N95 mask will be made available for each team member each day. Helping Hands. Please volunteer! Meetings, community events, and remote work. Vaccination mandate. All exemption requests must be submitted by 1/31/22, first dose required by 2/11/22. Effective immediately, Ballad Health will now accept…

TO: Ballad Health All FROM: Ballad Health Corporate Emergency Operations Center DATE: Jan. 18, 2022 TITLE: COVID-19 Vaccine Update briefing ACTION: Please post and cascade to all team members. Click here to see this message in PDF format.   Last Thursday, the Supreme Court of the United States, after hearing oral arguments, refused to permit an injunction against the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) COVID-19 vaccination mandate. Therefore, CMS is permitted to implement and enforce their new Medicare Conditions of Participation for healthcare facilities, which requires each healthcare facility to ensure their employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine within a prescribed period of time. This means Ballad Health, in order to remain eligible for Medicare and Medicaid participation, must comply with the rule and ensure our team members are vaccinated unless they have an approved medical or religious exemption. This is the same requirement Ballad Health implemented in November but suspended in early December while the mandate was…

TO: Ballad Health All FROM: Ballad Health Corporate Emergency Operations Center DATE: Jan. 14, 2022 TITLE: COVID-19 briefing ACTION: Please post and cascade to all team members. This is a review of the major activities that have recently occurred related to the COVID-19 response.   COVID-19 inpatient cases: 322 COVID-19 patients in ICU: 75 COVID-19 patients on ventilators: 57 Pediatric inpatients with COVID-19: 4 Patients in Safer at Home, COVID-19 care at home, program: 246 Percent of fully vaccinated population in Ballad Health’s 21-county service area: 47.7%   The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the CMS mandate for healthcare workers to be vaccinated for COVID-19 can go forward. This was in effect previously for Ballad Health, then was suspended, and now has been reimposed. See details below. Our patient volumes and positivity rates are at heightened levels as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 continues circulating through the Ballad Health service area. To combat the spread of this virus,…

TO: Ballad Health All FROM: Ballad Health Corporate Emergency Operations Center DATE: Jan. 6, 2022 TITLE: Weekly COVID-19 briefing ACTION: Cascade to all team members   Our patient volumes and positivity rates are once again reaching serious levels as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 continues circulating through the Ballad Health service area. Omicron is significantly more infectious than previous variants. The variant is already putting substantial strain on our health system’s ability to care for our communities, as it relates to rising incidents of infection and manpower. While we try to address our staffing shortage, we are now seeing a significant number of team members test positive and miss work. Concerned about this rapid spread and what it means for our team members and patients, we want to reiterate some of our existing policies and update some protocols to reduce exposure and infection. These measures help us protect ourselves and patients and lessen the risk of disrupting services so we…

TO: Ballad Health All FROM: Corporate Emergency Operations Center DATE: Jan. 5, 2022 TITLE: New CDC COVID-19 guidelines for healthcare workers ACTION: Please read and cascade to all team members. NOTE: All team members were also emailed these guidelines, including in PDF format.   The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has made significant changes to the guidelines for isolation and quarantine for healthcare workers. Please note there are specific guidelines for healthcare workers, separate from the updates for the general public, which also changed last week. The guidance from CDC is somewhat complex, so if you have any questions, please direct them to your supervisor, who will seek guidance from the CEOC. The intent of this memo is to provide guidance on how work restrictions will be handled based upon the latest CDC guidance, in the event there is exposure to COVID-19. Ballad Health intends for these guidelines to permit a team member…

TO: Ballad Health All FROM: Ballad Health Corporate Emergency Operations Center DATE: December 22, 2021 TITLE: Critical need for team members to support Helping Hands Program, willing to assist patient care teams in temporary/alternate work roles ACTION: Cascade to all team members   With our patient volumes at a high level and a critical need for assistance over the upcoming holidays, especially on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Ballad Health is seeking current team members – both clinical and non-clinical – to step in and assist our frontline teams in a paid role to support our Helping Hands Program. These duties may be in addition to your existing Ballad Health role or, in some cases, if you and your current supervisor agree, may be filled during your current work schedule/fulltime employment. If you have a clinical background and are not currently working in an acute patient care provision role, or if you do not have…

From: Ballad Health Corporate Emergency Operations Center To: All team members Re: Helping Hands program   With the recent surge in novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, Ballad Health’s Helping Hands program is in need of more team members to step into nonclinical positions to support our front line as we battle the pandemic. Helping Hands team members volunteer for the program but the hours worked are paid. Hours or shifts worked are in addition to, or in place of, the team member’s regular work. Be sure to check with your supervisor first about scheduling any hours with Helping Hands. To sign up for the Helping Hands program, visit our site on the Ballad Health intranet here. NOTE: You must be on a Ballad Health network device to access the intranet. Opportunities include: Unit liaisons Emergency department liaisons Food service Environmental services Supplies Sitters Screeners Call center NOTE: While all these needs are important, sitters are among…