COVID-19 Employee Update
Dear Colleagues:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus) is a rapidly evolving situation; given that, we want to keep you, our UMMS employees and medical staff, as informed as possible. We will be sending you three updates weekly – on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays – to provide timely and relevant information regarding the UMMS approach to addressing our preparedness and response. We will continue doing this as long as necessary. We thank you in advance for your continued hard work and support of our patients, visitors and one another.
COVID-19 Update for UMMS Employees and Medical Staff – 3/4/2020
UMMS Employee COVID-19 Response Website is Live!
- We've just launched the UMMS COVID-19 Response website, which is the place for employees and medical staff to go for the latest news, information and updates on our UMMS COVID-19 preparation and response. The site, which lives on our UMMS Intranet and is available from home only with VPN access, also features links to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Maryland Department of Health (MDH), a library of interviews with UMMS COVID-19 experts and much more. Bookmark this page and check back often for the latest news.
Operational Updates
- Starting today, the MDH and the Maryland Emerging Infections Program will be conducting enhanced surveillance activities for those hospitalized with influenza-like illness (ILI) or acute respiratory illness (ARI). To assist with this effort, we are asking clinicians to do the following:
- Place all patients with ILI in droplet and contact precautions
- EPIC now has an "COVID-19 Rule Out" and "COVID-19 Confirmed" Infection Flag
- As a reminder, if patient with ILI meets criteria for COVID-19 PUI, place patient on Airborne, Droplet and Contact Precautions
- Do not discontinue isolation orders; isolation precautions can only be discontinued by Infection Prevention, to allow IP teams to capture these patients in our surveillance.
- The state lab now has the capability of testing patients if they meet the Patient Under Investigation (PUI) criteria, instead of sending these specimens to the CDC lab. This will significantly decrease the turnaround time of these results. Consult Infectious Diseases to assist with clinical decision-making on whether patient meets PUI criteria.
- Instructions are being developed on methods to safely reuse disposable and reusable N95 respiratory, along with PAPRs.
Important Communications Coming Soon
- Guidance on any updates to our visitor policy should be coming soon. As we work to finalize that policy and seek ways to reduce traffic into the hospitals, please be sure to wear your badge at all times and ensure any vendors working in your areas are doing the same.
- We are developing a comprehensive employee FAQ document, that will include information on HR leave policies and will be posted on the UMMS Insider.
Protect Yourself, Your Family, Our Patients and More
- Perform vigilant hand hygiene – wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer
- Avoid shaking hands, and touching your eyes, nose and mouth, especially after sneezing
- Maintain social distances of 6 feet or more
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces regularly with household cleaning sprays or wipes
- Stay home when you are sick
Resources for More Information
Again, thank you for your flexibility, patience and cooperation as we work through a dynamic situation that quite literally changes from hour to hour. Rest assured that our System-wide incident commanders and chiefs and the local affiliate incident commanders are working in partnership to respond to any developments and we will continue to provide timely updates as the situation warrants.
The UMMS COVID-19 Incident Command Team