Valley Health maintains focus on COVID-19 mitigation, staff and patient safety

As Valley Health concludes another week of system-wide COVID-19 planning and mobilization, leaders feel as prepared as possible for an anticipated regional surge in cases.

“We began tracking the spread of Coronavirus in late January, updating and adapting our existing pandemic plans to address this particular circumstance,” said Iyad Sabbagh, MD, Valley Health Chief Physician Executive. “By February our system-wide team was meeting regularly with numerous subgroups focusing on specific challenges. The virus’s delayed presence in our community afforded us the benefit of observing its behavior, learning from our peers in other communities, and adapting best practices to our situation,” Sabbagh said.

Valley Health created a command structure to ensure that key functions and considerations were addressed to meet the primary objective of protecting staff and patient safety and service quality at its six hospitals, three long-term care facilities, inpatient rehabilitation center, over 50 medical practices and Urgent Care centers, home health agencies, and medical transport service. Changes system-wide have substantially reduced interactions between patients, visitors, volunteers, staff and physicians.

“Over the last few weeks we have focused our efforts on protecting our patients, staff, and the community,” said Valley Health President and CEO Mark H. Merrill. “We have postponed non-emergent surgical and diagnostic services to limit the chance of exposure and preserve our PPE supplies. We have implemented a phone triage line to guide those who have COVID-19 symptoms, a telehealth platform so that our Valley Health physician practices can whenever possible, see patients without an office visit, and opened four respiratory care clinics to provide safe follow-up for COVID-19 suspicious individuals. We now implore our community to stay home. Avoiding contact with others is the most effective way to mitigate the spread of this virus.”

Valley Health 10,000 Mask Challenge Achieves Halfway Mark
Hospitals nationwide are facing shortages of personal protective equipment or PPE. While staff on the front lines of COVID-19 patient care must wear N95 masks, the CDC recently endorsed the use of fabric masks to extend the life of PPE supplies in other patient care areas. Anticipating potential shortages and the uncertainty of supply chain promises, Valley Health launched an ambitious community challenge on April 6 to collect 10,000 hand-sewn facemasks in just two weeks. Five days later, the project has already passed the halfway point!

One local business has used its substantial inventory and strong connections with the sewing community to good use. Cindy Toney, who with Kathy Shifman co-owns Cloth Peddler in Stephens City, draws on a family tradition of community involvement, made all the more poignant because of her daughter, Susan Lessar, Valley Health’s Director of Nutrition Therapy and Integrated Support Services, and her son-in-law, pulmonologist Jeff Lessar, MD, both work at Winchester Medical Center.

While most of the masks donated so far have come from individual sewers, more than ten people donated fabric. Susan asked if the Cloth Peddler would cut donated fabric to make mask kits, which took the effort to a new dimension. Volunteers, including the Lessar children, have assembled several hundred kits containing fabric, elastic and directions to make 10 masks each. Toney encourages interested sewers to visit Cloth Peddler for kits and assures they will receive more elastic by Tuesday.

“It’s a good way to help the community, and offers people something to do,” Toney said. “I like to think everybody comes together in a difficult time to help each other.”

Toney and project coordinator Jenny Grooms, Interim Executive Director of Valley Health Foundations, encourage community members who have gotten kits from the hospital to return completed masks to the hospital so they can be washed and ready for use as soon as possible.

“Difficult times really do bring out the best in people! The outpouring of community support that Valley Health has received from our communities has been both humbling and inspiring,” Grooms said. “We are so thankful for people’s willingness to share their time and talents by donating supplies, making masks and continuing to help us exceed our community challenge.”

Surgical Services Update
Valley Health announced a further change to surgical services this week. For the safety of patients, providers and staff across the region, and in an effort to maximize the supply of PPE and anesthetic agents, all surgical and endoscopic procedures not previously postponed will now be performed at Winchester Medical Center. Patients who have surgeries or endoscopies scheduled at other Valley Health facilities will be contacted by their physician’s office.

“We remain focused on ensuring that patients receive the care they need while limiting the risk to other patients, providers, and staff, maintaining adequate levels of PPE to serve our region, and mitigating the spread of coronavirus in our community,” said Merrill.

For more information on COVID-19 updates, visit www.valleyhealthlink.com/COVID19.