By Judy Clabes
NKyTribune editor
St. Elizabeth Healthcare’s CEO Garren Colvin calls his 9,012 fellow associates “heroes” in the truest sense of the word.
“I’m in awe at what I’ve witnessed these past several weeks in this special place,” Colvin says.
For Colvin, success is always about the “team,” and he isn’t bashful about declaring his team the best.
“These brave associates put themselves in harm’s way every day,” he says, “and they do. They have stepped up. They have pulled together in this time of crisis.”
The burden of keeping the associates safe rests heavily on Colvin’s shoulders and he’s more than grateful to the leadership team that was way ahead of the curve in terms of planning and preparedness.
Today, he and the leadership team are on-site every single day, making the rounds to connect with associates, listen to their concerns and applaud their efforts.
The applause, he says, is well deserved.
The Infectious Disease Response Team was preparing for the highest level of care since Ebola, Colvin said, even before the public had ever heard of Coronavirus-19. Everyone was trained to identify risks, to understand the importance of isolation and to secure contact information.
Coronavirus is, indeed, a community disease. It spreads indiscriminately and quickly. It’s quiet, and those who have it may not know for weeks – or ever. But St. Elizabeth was prepared.
“Every single department has been touched and trained,” he said. “They’ve contributed and embraced the challenge, doing their very best for our community.”
Preparedness mattered.
“I wouldn’t have wanted to be CEO of a hospital that wasn’t well prepared,” he said.
Supplies were plentiful and readily accessible. There are plenty of masks for several months and enough N95 masks for rationing. There were and are adequate ventilators. The facilities team had patient rooms on three floors retrofitted in advance as “negative pressure rooms” – containing pure air circulation within a room rather than re-circulating air through multiple rooms. There were adequate tests to use for symptomatic patients, following guidelines.
“We had enough of a supply to test every patient and associate who needed it,” Colvin said. “Overall, we have gone above and beyond the CDC guidelines.”
At a time when healthcare providers are in the news nationally falling victim to the disease, and when 20% of the positive cases in Ohio have been healthcare workers, St. Elizabeth has had only 33 associates – of 9,012 – who have contracted the virus. Most of those were early on, before anyone even suspected the disease was afoot, and all of those associates are doing well. Some are back at work.
Early on, St. Elizabeth closed its hospitals to visitors. Every associate is masked. As they enter the hospital, every associate’s temperature is taken. Everyone adheres to the washing-hands guidelines.
“COVID-19 is in our community so social distancing and trying to mitigate the spread of the disease is critical,” Colvin said. “With all the precautions we take, we believe our hospitals are the safest public spaces in the community.”
He applauds Governor Andy Beshear’s actions to restrict the congregation of people and to require “staying at home to stay healthy.”
“Gov. Beshear has saved thousands of lives,” said Colvin. “This is a disease for which there currently is no cure. As the government loosens restrictions on public gathering and removes stay-at-home orders, experts warn of a second and perhaps a third resurgence. But we feel we handled the first wave tremendously well as a community, and we are continuing our efforts so we remain ready for whatever comes next,”
St. Elizabeth had already had a “soft opening” of video visits so they were ahead of the move to telehealth. They made 21,000 video visits in the last month.
St. E. hospitals are planning every day to be ready for 100% safe re-opening of elective procedures and elective surgeries. Gov. Beshear has announced that healthcare practitioners can resume non-urgent/emergent healthcare services, diagnostic radiology and lab services in hospital outpatient settings on April 27. Elective surgeries and procedures will come in a subsequent phase.
Early on, the hospital’s leadership and the Northern Kentucky Health Department met with area nursing homes and assisted living facilities to create a cohesive plan to prepare for a possible spread of COVID-19 infections among residents. Nursing home residents are at a high risk of being affected by the disease and may have underlying chronic medical issues that can cause serious complications.
Just recently, that plan was put to the test when 33 residents at Rosedale Green, a 176-bed senior living facility in Covington, tested positive for COVID-19. So, in keeping with the plan, St. Elizabeth Healthcare will be admitting all those patients needing hospitalization to its Fort Thomas facility where the Infectious Disease Response Team can treat them.
St. Elizabeth Healthcare will be providing added infection control and sterilization resources as members of its Infection Control and Environmental Service teams do a deep clean of the entire Rosedale Green facility and provide clinical staffing as needed.
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