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 continue to send regular updates, as necessary. We thank you in advance for your continued hard work and support of our patients, visitors and one another.

  

General Update

• UMMS posted FAQs for our patients and members of the communities we serve.
• UMMS finalized a joint policy related to business travel and large gatherings with UMB, along with employee FAQs. Please note: additional guidelines related to travel and telework are being developed and will be released and implemented, as needed.

 Operational Updates

•  The enhanced Patient Safety Policy is now live and being promoted across the System.
•  Additionally, we are developing additional visitor screening questions and promotional materials to further assist in screening visitor. Questions are as follows:
  •  Have you recently had a fever or felt sick?
  •  Have you traveled outside of the country in the last 14 days?
  •  Have you been in contact with someone with COVID-19?
•  Given our enhanced policy, please be sure to wear your badge at all times and ensure any vendors working in your areas are doing the same.

 Infection Prevention Reminders

•  All influenza-like illness (ILI) and acute respiratory infection (ARI) patients should be placed in droplet and contact precautions.
• Ensure all staff are familiar with protocols for safe donning and removal of personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Review all local infection prevention policies, including hand hygiene and transmission-based precautions, with your teams.
• 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

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Maryland Department of Health
• 5 COVID-19 Facts You Should Know to Stop the Spread of Rumors

Thank you for your commitment to our patients and to each other. Know 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