LCMC 3-10-2020

LCMC Update: March 10, 2020


LCMC Update: March 10, 2020

Dear LCMC Health family,
We now have two presumptive positive cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) at University Medical Center New Orleans and Touro. Similar to other hospitals across the country, our staff has been prepared and trained for this situation and stand ready to care for our patients and protect our employees.

We are identifying staff who have come into contact with the patients, and we will be following our screening protocol. 
The health and wellness of our employees, patients, and visitors are of the utmost importance to us. Please see below and check the intranet for the latest information and updates.

Leaders, please print and share this information with those who may not have regular access to email or Internet.

  • Reporting to work: At this time, all LCMC Health facilities are operating and employees should continue to report to their scheduled shift unless asked to do otherwise. We just ask that employees feeling ill stay home from work after notifying their supervisor.
  • Limited Entry & Visitor Restrictions: To further protect the health of our patients, workforce and the community, and prevent the potential spread of COVID-19, LCMC Health is modifying its visitor policy across all LCMC Health acute-care, rehabilitation and senior-living facilities effective March 11, 2020 until further notice. Click here to review the modified visitor policy. 
  • Business Travel Restrictions: Employees should postpone all non-essential, out-of-state or international business travel until further notice unless approved by local executive teams. This includes vendor visits, conferences and large meetings. We also request any clients or vendors planning to travel for non-essential business meetings at any of our LCMC Health facilities postpone those arrangements as well. In many cases, a video conference or teleconference can provide a workable alternative. If you do travel internationally for personal reasons, you will be required to self-report your travel plans to LCMC Health Employee Health.
  • Exposure to COVID-19: LCMC Health will ensure that employees exposed to COVID-19 at work and who may be required to be on work restriction with active monitoring will continue to be paid 100% of their salary. They will not be required to use PTO or frozen sick time. The time out of work will be considered eligible for Workers' Compensation and if the employee's salary is above the Workers' Compensation maximum, LCMC Health will pay the difference. This consideration is for lost time resulting from CDC recommended prevention measures or work-related illness resulting from the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak only. Employees that are required to self-monitor from home or become ill due to potential COVID-19 exposure from outside of work will be compensated via PTO or frozen sick time. 
  • Privacy reminder: LCMC Health's policy is for employees to only access medical records with a work-related reason. Please be mindful of the privacy of patients with suspected cases of COVID-19. Do not access their records unless you are a member of their treatment team or have a valid, work-related reason to do so. Remember that all activity in Epic, and our other electronic systems, is logged and auditable. Additionally, please refer to our social media and media policies as a reminder to keep patient information private and work with marketing for any media-related inquiries.
  • Break the glass/confidential patients: When a patient arrives at your facility and is suspected of having COVID-19 or is a confirmed case of COVID-19, Break-the-Glass should be added to the patient's entire record, by adding the "confidential" patient type to the patient's record in Epic. Tip sheets are available for Adding a Patient FYI Flag and Adding Confidential Patient Type.
  • Universal masking: At this time, the World Health Organization advises that healthy people need to wear masks only when taking care of those who are sick or suspected of infection. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "does not recommend" people who are well wear them, except in that circumstance.
  • Pediatric virtual care available: If your family has traveled recently and you are concerned that your child is experiencing symptoms related to those of COVID-19, you can use our pediatric virtual care service from Children's Hospital to get advice from our team and take our travel screen survey. Visit chnola.org/virtualcare for more information on how to get access.
  • Guidance for LCMC Health providers: Click here to review provider-specific guidance on COVID-19.
  • Information for students: For your safety, and to ensure supplies remain available for patient care, students will not receive COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) training and therefore, will not be permitted to care for any patient in isolation or who may have symptoms of COVID-19. This pertains to direct patient contact and observation situations. Additionally, students and faculty must not come to the hospital or any clinical rotations if they are ill with a cough, fever, or shortness of breath. If you are suspected to be ill, you will be asked to go home to recuperate or to seek medical treatment. You should wait until at least 24 hours after your fever is gone without the use of fever-reducing medicines, or after symptoms have improved (at least 4-5 days after flu symptoms started) before returning. Click here for more information.
  • Testing for COVID-19: We are working to bring alternate testing methods on as quickly as possible.
  • PPE Tip Sheets: For your reference, here are tip sheets for Putting On PPE (Donning) and Taking Off PPE (Doffing).
  • Internal and Communtiy Communication: LCMC Health marketing is working closely with system and hospital teams to ensure employees and the community have the latest information available. Employees can find updates via email, intranet, digital display boards, signage at entry points, and through their local leaders. Community communication includes working closely with the media and elected officials and adding information to our websites and social media channels.

LSU GME Knowledge Base

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