Nursing homes are paired with a hospital in their region. Many nursing homes have a relationship in place with a hospital through the medical director, ownership, or a collaborative such as ECHO or LTC Partnership. If a relationship does not exist, the nursing home is paired with its “911 hospital.” The email and phone number for the hospital’s post-acute liaison is under the contact tab. When contacted, hospitals will supply as much assistance as they are able. Some hospital contacts may be updated early next week. We will send an updated spreadsheet.
Expectations:
- The Maryland Department of Health expects a process to be in place for nursing homes to self-bridge.
- It is in hospitals’ interest to support local nursing homes, as they’re able.
- This works best when a relationship exists before there is a crisis
- Assistance that has worked well includes telehealth and infection control support, coaching, and problem solving.
- Other assistance should also be pursued, such as staffing agencies, cross-training staff, QIO, and other Collaboratives’ resources.
Here are some key points:
- COVID-19 infections are increasing in nearly every community in Maryland, sometimes at alarming rates.
- The healthcare heroes who work in hospitals and nursing homes live in those communities. Research shows that the strongest correlation to COVID-19 being a healthcare setting is how prevalent it is in the surrounding community.
- The State of Maryland has today five (5) Bridge Teams of 12 people, basically one team per region.
REMINDERS, AS ALWAYS:
- We understand the truly and historically challenging days and weeks we are entering.
- You are saving lives.
- People first, quality counts.
- Our sector MUST double our efforts on infectious disease protocol, staffing, PPE, observation, and testing.
- Stay close to your hospital partners.
- Sound alarms early.
- Know that WE WILL get through this.
- Train, train, and train teams again on infectious disease protocol.
- Recognize that COVID-19 fighting fatigue is an issue across the county, not just in our sector.
- Overcommunicate with residents, patients, families, staff, and government partners.
- Work with your hospital partners, and coordinate with local and state regulatory partners.
- Take and document your action; keep a timeline
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CLICK HERE for the Dr. Katz Video, and please see the Donning and Doffing Checklist we first distributed a couple of months ago.
Deepest thanks to the leaders at UMMS, LifeBridge, MedStar, Johns Hopkins Medicine, and MHA with whom we work closely, as well as thanks to all of our sector’s acute care partners. I am proud of you, and we are counting on you and your skilled nursing and rehabilitation center teams as we are just beginning the most unfortunate fall/winter surge of COVID-19.
Onward together, marathon and not a sprint.
In my personal life as a Jew, I am working today under personal rabbinic guidance, as is stated in the Mishnah, the earliest post-biblical record of Jewish law: “If any person saves a life, a single life, Judaism considers that he has saved the whole world” (Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4.5).
Be well,
