County EOC update
• Public Health has started a drive-thru testing specifically for identified employees of a known Lyon County cluster site
• Public Health drive-thru testing administered 8 total specimen collections on April 20th
• Public Health is utilizing Abbott testing for rapid response (within 15 minutes)
# of inpatients currently in COVID unit – 2 with 3 PUIs in isolation rooms
Cumulative # of COVID admissions – 12 admitted since April 6 with an average length of stay at 7-10 days
Respiratory Clinic # – 8 total patients were seen April 20th with 7 of them being tested for COVID-19
Drive Thru # – 19 on April 20th
Tests administered to date – 320 as of April 15th; 31 tested on April 20th
Kansas state laboratory – capacity at 1,000 tests/day
Most of the specimen test collections administered by Newman Regional Health are sent to Quest laboratory in Lenexa. Those that can be sent to the state lab include hospital patients and healthcare workers. Quest lab has a 36-hour turnaround time for test results from the time they receive the specimen collection
Newman Regional Health is still experiencing a shortage of procedure masks. Staff utilizes approximately 2,000 procedure masks each week. We received no shipment of our allotment in March; it was deferred to April. We are expecting 4,000 masks to be delivered Wednesday, April 22. We currently have less than a 2 week supply on hand. We do have the ability to submit a request to the county for supplies from the state stockpile when we enter into a 7-day window. When we approach a critical shortage of procedure masks, we will begin deployment of the N95 masks which will be used by most staff as a droplet protection measure. The surgical drape covers that have been made by community members will be distributed along with the N95 to help provide extended use of the N95 masks.
Gowns and gloves remain a PPE item that we are currently not experiencing a shortage of.
Cloth mask distribution/need
• Every patient that comes in to the hospital will be provided with a cloth mask if they do not present with one of their own. This includes all inpatients, ER, Express Care, Respiratory Clinic, and outpatient ancillary services.
• please wear a personal face mask, if you have one
No visitor policy for the next 2 weeks – no visitation unless there is a compassionate need; compassionate need visitation will be limited to 2 visitors and it must be the same 2 visitors for the duration of the patient’s stay. Zoom video conference calls will be available for all others through the help of our Care Coordination staff.
Patients with ongoing respiratory conditions are asked to bring their inhaler with them to the hospital (ER, Express Care, Respiratory Clinic, etc.) due to a nationwide critical shortage of inhaler medications.
PPE / Respiratory Protection
• droplet precaution vs. airborne precaution
• Once deployed, N95 masks will be used in two different ways depending on the patient care staff. Providers, nurses, and respiratory therapists will be utilizing them as respirators. All other clinical patient care staff will be utilizing them as a droplet level protection mask.
Kansas Hero Relief Program – financial assistance for child care; available to healthcare workers with a household income below 250% of the federal poverty guidelines which is approximately $22/hour
Re-establishment of services – Phase 1 of recovery has to be met in order to begin doing elective outpatient procedures; Phase 2 opens up inpatient procedures
With some of the clusters that we are beginning to experience within the city, we are expecting to see a slight surge within the next week. We are consistent with the admission rate being experienced across the country at 20-25% of the positive cases.
Staffing remains our number one priority. Organizationally, we have to do what’s important to keep our employees safe and healthy in order to continue providing care to patients, especially as we approach a surge within our community.
Newman Regional Health Medical Partners clinic appointments have been identified for well visits in the morning and sick visits in the afternoon.