COVID19 Employee Update

COVID-19 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.

Need to Know

• Governor Larry Hogan announced that all non-essential businesses are closed as of 5:00 pm today. Read Dr. Suntha’s message noting that all University of Maryland Medical System employees are essential and we will continue to serve the health care needs of the people of Maryland. Where possible, we have implemented teleworking for those functions that can operate remotely. Please speak to your immediate supervisor if you have any questions regarding the teleworking policy.
• UMMS took steps to strengthen the Employee Health Plan by eliminating the cost of COVID-19 testing, waiving prior authorizations for COVID-19 testing, increasing access to necessary medications, and developing a process to ensure that our employees are not financially responsible for health expenses related to COVID-19.
• We are committed to providing employees news and information on child care options you may be able to access, as mentioned in our UMMS Child Care Policy. The Y in Central Maryland will have child care services across the state available beginning Wednesday, March 25 for children of essential hospital workers (Register here). This service will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis and is free. Parents should seek to keep their child at home to promote social distancing and exhaust all other options before registering for this service.

Good to Know

• Last week, UMMS adopted a Strict Patient Safety Policy, meaning no visitation is allowed with limited and specific exceptions. As a reminder, this policy applies to visitors and employees who are visiting patients in a non-work capacity.
• UMMS is helping lead a national response to COVID-19. Over the last week there were 25 stories featuring UMMS COVID-19 experts in the media, including the New York Times, CNN, NPR and many others.

Helpful Resources

• Please reference the UMMS Telework Toolkit Guide before reaching out to the IS&T Help Desk. All questions regarding remote access support should be e-mailed to remoteaccesssupport@umm.edu. All other non-urgent and non-clinical related IS&T questions should be e-mailed to helpdesk@umm.edu.
• Have questions? Visit the following websites for trusted information:
  • UMMS COVID-19 Response Employee Website
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Maryland Department of Health

The UMMS COVID-19 Incident Command Team