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Update: July 23, 2021

—FOR INTERNAL COMMUNICATION ONLY—
Thought of the Day

““Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless.” –Mother Teresa

State COVID-19 Stats
  • 509,716 positive cases (up 8,222 since July 21)
  • 10,889 deaths (up 61 since July 21)
  • Vaccination rate increased .13% bringing the total rate to 36.23%.
  • 1,690,044 individuals are fully vaccinated.
  • Tangipahoa Parish incidence rate has increased to 89.4 per 100,000 people for an increase of 30.7 individuals.
NOHS COVID-19 Stats
  • Tested 30,159 (up 328 since July 21)
  • 4,170 positive test results (up 85 since July 21)
  • 1,205 patients recovered (up 14 since July 21)
  • Overall positivity rate is 13.8%.
  • NOMC:
    • 60 hospitalized (up 15 since July 21)
    • 6 COVID-19 patients on ventilators (up 2 since July 21)
    • 1 death since July 21
  • NORH: 18 patients (0 COVID-19 positive); 3 possible patient admissions
  • Hood: 17 Patients (0 COVID-19 positive); 4 employees out monitoring
Staffing and Volume
  • Chief Nursing Officer Kirsten Riney reports that staffing remains very tight. Everyone’s continued teamwork is appreciated.
  • We continue to monitor the surgery schedule. Depending upon bed needs, we will work with physicians to suspend surgeries if needed.
  • Chief Human Resources Officer Jeff Jarreau reports Employee Wellness has returned 10 employees back to work since July 22 leaving 50 out monitoring symptoms at home (4 RNs; 0 respiratory therapists). Of the 50, 31 are COVID-19 positive with 19 who are negative pending clearance or pending results. Remember that employees reporting symptoms or who tested positive for COVID-19 cannot return to work until they have cleared the 10-day period and have also been cleared by Employee Wellness.
  • Chief Financial Officer Mark Anderson reports that supply levels are really good. We have enough PPE on hand, and for some supplies, we have more than a year’s worth.
Visitation Changes Effective Thursday, July 22

Due to the continuing escalation in volume of COVID-19 patients in the region and North Oaks hospitals, the health system's visitation guidelines have been modified as follows effective July 22, 2021:

  • COVID-19 positive patients at North Oaks Medical Center and North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital may not have visitors except in cases of end-of-life. Nurses will give twice-a-day phone updates to the patient's designated family member. Another exception is that laboring mothers who are COVID-19 positive may have one designated support person with them for the duration of labor with no swapping allowed.
  • Emergency Room patients may have one visitor/support person accompany them. If the patient needs COVID-19 evaluation, however, the visitor/support person will be asked to leave and wait in his/her vehicle while patient testing is pending. Nurses will update the visitor/support person waiting in the car as to the patient’s status. If the patient has COVID-19, he or she will not be allowed to have a visitor/support person with them in the Emergency Room.
  • Clinic and Outpatient Diagnostic patients with respiratory or COVID-like symptoms will only be allowed to have a support person accompany them if it is medically necessary to assist the patient or communicate with the provider.
  • Non-COVID-19 patients at North Oaks Medical Center and North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital will be allowed to have one visitor/support person at a time between the hours of 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. Visitors may swap out, but visitors will not be allowed to wait in North Oaks lobbies. Pediatric patients are the exception; they may have both parents visit at the same time.
  • Laboring mothers who are not COVID-19 positive will be allowed to have one support person present. Postpartum, one support person will be permitted with swapping allowed, but visitors will not be allowed to wait in North Oaks lobbies.
  • Visitors will be screened at the door and required to stay in the patient’s room/with the patient at all times when visitation is permitted:
    • At North Oaks Medical Center, please enter and exit the hospital at the Main Entrance (4-story hospital building marked by a horseshoe drive and flagpole) Monday-Friday, and through the Tower Entrance (5-story hospital building marked by circle drive and connecting breezeway to the Parking Garage) on weekends.
    • At North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital, please use the Main Entrance to enter and exit the facility Monday-Sunday.
Vaccinations
  • Dr. Peltier reports an uptick in emails and calls with questions regarding vaccines – especially in light of the Delta variant. Many questions center on how many patients are being admitted who are vaccinated. We have completed a tally of positive lab results and number of breakthrough cases since February. While breakthrough cases have certainly increased slightly, it is about 5% overall. Remember that the Pfizer vaccine is 95% effective. So it’s right in line. It has increased slightly this month to about 7%. On Wednesday, July 21, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article looking at the efficacy of the two-dose vaccines regarding the Delta variant, and a slight decrease was noted from 93.7% to 88.6%. So the two-dose vaccines are still an extremely effective vaccination. Push cards featuring a QR code linking to the vaccine scheduling portal of covidvaccine.northoaks.org have been developed by Marketing and will be distributed at all North Oaks facility visitor entrances to encourage vaccinations. The card also promotes Dr. Peltier’s availability at info@northoaks.org to answer vaccine-related questions from the public. He also continues to welcome staff questions and can be reached at peltierr@northoaks.org or ext. 7755.
  • COO Michael Watkins reports increasing demand for vaccines at North Oaks Walk-In Clinic in Hammond. Yesterday, 70 were administered, and today, we opened for business with 40 vaccine appointments pre-scheduled. The clinic’s hours of operation are 7 a.m.-8 p.m. weekdays and weekends. Walk-ins are welcome, or vaccine appointments can be scheduled at covidvaccine.northoaks.org or by calling (985) 230-SHOT [7468].
  • Separate and apart from vaccines available at North Oaks Walk-In Clinic, the North Oaks Foundation’s special “COVID 100 Immunization Clinic” initiative has received a total of $40,000 from the Enmon Family, Jani-King Gulf Coast, First Guaranty Bank, Anderson Traylor Edwards Law Offices/Elite Title Solutions, and an anonymous donor. These gifts will enable the Foundation to extend a $100 cash incentive to 400 people. As of this morning, all 400 slots were filled for individuals to receive the Pfizer BioNTech two-dose COVID-19 vaccine on July 31 and Aug. 21 at North Oaks Immunization Clinic!
Infection Prevention

Infection Prevention Manager Amanda Morse encourages everyone to call Infection Prevention if you have any questions about specific recommendations or concerns. Please hold each other accountable and feel free to reach out to Amanda at ext. 6414 or Infection Prevention Nurse Ashley Foster at ext. 6440.

Please hold each other accountable. It’s everyone’s daily responsibility to mask up, wash your hands and clean equipment and surfaces!