MOSHE President
Infection Prevention Specialist, Barnes-Jewish Hospital
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Hello MOSHE. I hope this finds you well. To quote the Grateful Dead, “What a Long, Strange Trip it’s Been.” I am not going to regurgitate all the words used by the media to describe the pandemic. We are all well aware.
We have seem AHJs revising regulations and canceling inspections. We have seen patient numbers decrease, yet patient acuity increase. Hospitals are furloughing staff, canceling procedures, running with minimum ancillary staff. Checking temperatures, wearing masks, social distancing…something we never thought would happen here.
One of the good things that I have seen is the teamwork between clinical care and facilities. A true necessity that has been brought to the forefront. I have seen several things in my facility that truly hammer this home. First, we evaluated which nursing divisions could be converted to all negative pressure. Converting them to COVID units. This included the initial conversion, as well as maintaining the pressure differentials, and documenting this. Of course, during this time we had an air handler issue, impacting one of our COVID intensive care units. In addition to repairs, temperature, humidity and pressure differentials had to be maintained. Also, and I cannot stress how important this was to me, making sure that the facilities crew were properly protected. Making sure they had appropriate PPE, and knew how to put it on and take it off properly. I know that at my facility, IP and FE are both at the table in the command center.
I know that the clinical side of the hospital world takes the facilities side for granted. That is until something isn’t working. Without facilities we wouldn’t have water to wash our hands, or flush away things. There would be no hand sanitizer placed anywhere. Air temperature and humidity would not be correct. We would be working in the dark. Our kitchens would be inoperable, not being able to feed the patients and staff. Elevators wouldn’t work, signage wouldn’t exist. A hospital is an intricate puzzle, and without teamwork and cooperation, it would fall apart. Hopefully, when things get back to whatever our new normal will be, that doesn’t get lost.
As cities open up, we are still in a state of limbo. Some of our responsibilities have changed dramatically. Who knows what the future holds. Whatever it is, it does not change our end goal of saving lives. Something that clinical staff can’t do without a solid facility behind it. I know that maintenance staff aren’t in the spotlight, but they should be. As least that is my opinion.
As far as MOSHE goes, we had our first webinar. A few technical difficulties, but went pretty well. We are working to do more of these. It presents an opportunity for those unable to get away from their campus to participate. Hopefully you are getting to participate. Our education committee is working hard to have educational opportunities available and keep in line with social gathering guidelines.
We will get to the other side of COVID, though I don’t know when. When we get there, I am not really sure what it will look like. But, we will get there. As Rodney Atkins would say “If you're going through hell, keep on going. Don't slow down, if you're scared, don't show it. You might get out before the devil even knows you're there.”
Stay strong, stay safe, we will get through this, together.
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MOSHE Facility Membership - Dues Waived thru 2021
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Jayson Bradbury
Missouri Baptist Medical Center
MOSHE Board of Trustees & Membership Committee Chair
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Greetings Members,
I wanted to deliver some good news to all the MOSHE facility members. As you are all aware, we are in living and working in some challenging times. COVID-19 has changed healthcare in many ways, for all of us. I, for one, am encouraged by the MOSHE community, and the positive response to the needs of the hospitals and communities we serve.
Due to the unfortunate economic impact of this pandemic, healthcare organizations have had to make some tough decisions. Many organizations needed to adjust their 2020 budgets which has led to some furloughing of employees and spending cuts. The MOSHE Board of Trustees and the Membership Committee believe that it is especially important to continue to support our members, now and in the upcoming year. MOSHE wants to continue to serve as many people as possible and we do not want your 2021 dues to limit your participation in our organization. MOSHE will extend your 2020 membership through 2021, at no additional cost. We hope this allows as many people as possible to actively participate in MOSHE events in the months to come.
Thank you,
Jayson Bradbury
MOSHE Board of Trustees & Membership Committee Chair
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MOSHE invites you to share your thoughts and opinions about our education programs and networking events, as well as other related MOSHE educational content. We will use your
feedback to shape MOSHE's conferences, to be held in 2020 and 2021. We value your opinions as we work to create the best experiences possible. Take the survey
here.
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Regulatory Update
Facilities Manager, Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital
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Clarification around the 1135 CMS waivers
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- Waivers are only being considered and excepted if: 1) the Incident Command Center was open and the waivers were reviewed and excepted by the committee.
- The waivers are within the dates of the guidelines, Missouri is march 1 through currently June 15 or until the Governor of Missouri President of the country lifts the emergency order.
- Currently TJC is expiring all waivers at the end of the lift and ALL systems have to be current that Day.
This was put on by Tim Markijohn over the TJC surveyors, and ASHE Executive Deputy Director, Chad Beebe . Chad is requesting that Hospitals be given a 30-60 day window to get compliant but that has not been excepted to date. His suggestion is that you know what is going on with your facility so try to schedule the testing as soon as things permit and hopefully before the State of Emergency lift is given. This is only for testing and Regulation relief as systems are still being expected to be kept fully functional during the Emergency.
The question also came up about the survey process when this is over and currently considering until June 1
st TJC is 2500 surveys behind and doesn’t have a solid plan to get caught back up. They have a scheduled meeting early June and this is one of the hot topic items. Many of the surveyors are part time with Full time jobs and there are a lot of Hospitals allowing them to complete more than the minimal surveys required to help out the systems, some solutions he mentioned are:
- Start from when the surveys stopped but like mentioned they are 2500 surveys behind and it would take a long time to catch up
- Shorten surveys to expedite the process and pick up time there
- The use of additional part time surveyors doing them which constitutes approx.. 30% of the staff but not a clear picture on what the additional pick up would be cumulative or how long Hospitals would allow them to keep it up.
- Extend the license even longer than the predicted and pick them as the schedule will allow.
- Do virtual surveys which they have completed their third one and they have been going very successfully. Mike and I agree this is very dangerous as you have to down load all your required documentation and allow them even more additional time to review which will ultimately give them more time to find something we missed like a date one day off. This would also cause a lot more work on the facility part.
Click
here to see the Missouri Hospital Association Waiver Tracking document.
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MOSHE Advocacy Update
Healthcare Life Safety Specialist, Facility Operations, St. Louis Children's Hospital
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Regular surveys and reviews to resume in June — with some changes to protect safety
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The Joint Commission will begin resuming regular surveys and reviews in June.
The Joint Commission is committed to working closely with organizations, with safety being the first and foremost priority. As we start to resume surveys and reviews, account executives will begin to contact organizations due for a survey to assess the impact that the coronavirus pandemic had on their operations and their current state.
The Joint Commission is reviewing a variety of factors and criteria for determining where and which organizations will be surveyed, including identifying and then prioritizing low-risk areas in which we can go in safely to survey.
Our survey process will look somewhat different, as we will need to employ physical distancing practices to ensure the safety of all parties. These will include:
- Limiting the numbers of individuals in group sessions. The use of audio or video conference calls can be incorporated by the organization to safely expand the number of attendees.
- Minimizing the number of people who accompany the surveyor on tracer activities.
- Using masks will be a routine practice, and we will expect the organization to provide masks and/or other personal protective equipment (PPE) to surveyors and reviewers while on-site.
- Maximizing the use of technology to eliminate the need for a number of people to sit directly next to an individual for an extended time. For example, conducting electronic medical record reviews using screen-sharing or displaying/projecting the record. Other examples include simulating an activity if we are unable to enter a high-risk space, and interviewing patients or staff by phone.
- Driving in separate cars to off-site locations or home visits.
Our survey will focus on a thorough assessment but will not retroactively review compliance. The implementation of an organization’s emergency operations plan will not be the focus of return survey activity considering the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) waivers and other extensions. Rather, we will work to understand how you have adapted to the pandemic and review your current practices to assure you are providing safe care and working in a safe environment.
The Joint Commission has been compiling resources to provide health care staff with the most pertinent information to best meet their needs as they battle the COVID-19 virus. The resources are available on
The Joint Commission’s website
.
Questions regarding the resumption of regular surveys and reviews may be directed to your organization’s assigned account executive.
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Webinar Coming Soon!
COVID-19 Plans for the State and Overall Insight & Short-term/Long-term Responses to COVID-19 at Area Hospitals
Speaker
Dr. Williams, Cabinet Director of Health and Senior Services (DHSS)
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MOSHE's Annual Golf Outing &
Education Program
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Monday, September 14th, at Innsbrook Resort
Registration coming soon!
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MOSHE'S Annual One Day Seminar
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Wednesday, September 30th, at the Eric P. Newman Education Center
Registration coming soon!
Speakers
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Jim Kendig, The Joint Commission
James Kendig is the Field Director for the Life Safety Code Surveyors/Engineers at The Joint Commission. In this role, he oversees half (approximately 40) of the surveyor cadre who specialize in surveying The Joint Commission’s life safety, environment of care, and emergency management standards.
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Dave Dagenais, ASHE
Dave Dagenais is currently the Sr Director of Plant Operations, Clinical Engineering, Emergency Management and Safety Officer at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover, NH and is a Life Safety Code Surveyor for the Joint Commission. He is a Certified Healthcare Facility Manger, a Certified Healthcare Safety Professional and a Fellow with the American Society of Healthcare Engineers.
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ASHE 2020 Annual Conference Moves to October
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New dates for ASHE 2020 Annual Conference
plus exciting, new virtual conference!
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Recognizing the ongoing efforts of hospital and health systems fighting COVID-19 in their communities, we are rescheduling the ASHE 2020 Annual Conference & Technical Exhibition in Chicago from August 2–5 to October 4–7 and creating an exciting new virtual conference for those who may be unable to travel. ASHE is looking forward to providing new conference opportunities and we hope to see you later this year, either in person or online!
As ASHE works to expand the conference experience, we are interested in your ideas and professional needs for the virtual conference. Please share your insight with this
quick survey
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Registration information will be available soon, and you can
sign up here
for the latest updates.
We look forward to connecting with you in October. Until then, stay safe and healthy!
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ASHE 2020 Election Notice
Participate in the election process and cast your vote on
Monday, August 3, 2020 for these important ASHE positions
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All current ASHE members as of July 31, 2020 will be eligible to cast their vote for
president-elect
and
associate member board representative
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- President-Elect. The president-elect will serve a one-year term that begins January 1, 2021 and ends December 31, 2021. The president-elect will take office as ASHE president beginning January 1, 2022.
- Associate Member Board Representative. The associate member Board representative will serve a two-year term that begins January 1, 2021 and ends December 31, 2022.
As in years past, voting will be done online. Candidate information will be available online prior to voting. On Monday, August 3, you will receive an email from
Association Elections
with your unique voting link to the elections website. Once you vote, the link will be disabled.
Voting opens
Monday, August 3, 2020 at 12:00 a.m. CT.
Voting closes
Friday, August 21, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. CT.
For questions regarding ASHE elections, please contact Election Secretary, Charmaine Osborne at
cosborne@aha.org
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Thank you MOSHE Partners & Sponsors!
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MOSHE
Missouri Society for Healthcare Engineering
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