July 28: COVID-19 UPDATE

NEW TODAY: Here’s the latest information about Michigan Medicine’s management of operations:

• COVID-19 PATIENT STATS
• TEAM MEMBER COVID-19 TESTING
• N-95 RESPIRATOR FIT TESTING IN AMBULATORY CARE AREAS
• ENTRANCE UPDATES
• PPE DISPOSAL
• NEW M1 MEDICAL STUDENTS BEGIN THEIR JOURNEY
• INFECTION PREVENTION: SOCIAL DISTANCING IN THE CLINICAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

DAILY COVID-19 PATIENT STATS

Today’s census for COVID-19 inpatients and those patients under investigation (PUI) are noted below: 

Discharges: 651 total COVID-19 discharges to date, 2 in the last 24 hours.  These numbers include patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities but excludes deaths and discharges to hospice.

Deaths and hospice: Since March 10, Michigan Medicine hospitals have had 115 total deaths or discharges to hospice, 0 in the last 24 hours.

TEAM MEMBER COVID-19 TESTING STATS*

* Data from 3/10 through 7/27. The testing stats reflect just Michigan Medicine employees, not all University of Michigan employees. It also reflects only those who sought testing at or were hospitalized at Michigan Medicine or reported their testing to Occupational Health Services. Some Michigan Medicine employees may have been tested outside our system.

N-95 RESPIRATOR FIT TESTING IN AMBULATORY CARE AREAS

In the spirit of ensuring Michigan Medicine is compliant with new PPE guidelines from the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA), UMMG leaders are in the process of identifying workflows to ensure appropriate staff members are fit tested for N-95 respirators.

According to the new guidelines, any health care worker who provides direct patient care to patients with confirmed COVID-19 or persons under investigation (PUIs) will need to wear gown, gloves, N-95 respirators and eye protection. This is in addition to existing Michigan Medicine guidelines on using an N-95 respirator, gown, gloves, and eye protection for aerosol-generating procedures.

At Michigan Medicine, a PUI is defined as any patient with symptoms concerning for COVID-19 who will be undergoing testing due to meeting the organization’s testing criteria.

If you work in an ambulatory care area and qualify for N-95 fit testing, your leadership team will be in touch to help schedule you for fit testing should that be necessary.

ENTRANCE UPDATES

Michigan Medicine Security is making changes at some of our building entrances to alleviate congestion, improve patient, visitor and employee experience and enhance safety. Details are listed below.

Mott C&W Employee Entrance/Exit

·       Will open Monday, Aug. 3

·       This entrance will be for all staff (those who use the self-screening tool and those who do not)

·       This entrance/exit will be open 24hr/7days

UH South Employee Entrance/Exit

·       Will open Monday, Aug. 3

·       This entrance will be a “self-screening” entrance

o   Staff using this entrance are required to use the self-screening tool (https://healthscreen.umich.edu/)

o   Staff choosing not to use the self-screening tool will be redirected to other employee entrances

·       This entrance will be open Monday thru Friday, 5:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m., to alleviate congestion during the morning rush

·       Employees can exit at this location 24hr/7days

North Ingalls Building (NIB)

·       Effective Friday, July 24, the 300 North Ingalls Building was put on 24/7 lockdown

·       MCARD is now required for access

·       Delivery and vendor services have been notified and are making necessary arrangements

PPE DISPOSAL

Please do not litter or leave used PPE in parking lots & structures, or on medical campus grounds. If a trash container is full and needs to be emptied, call the CLEAN LINE (2-5326) to report the location of filled trash bins. Alternatively, non-emergency requests for facilities and support services can be submitted on the EVS Support Services Link page. 

NEW M1 MEDICAL STUDENTS BEGIN THEIR JOURNEY

The 168 members of the matriculating medical student Class of 2020 are beginning their journey this week with M1 Launch.

The primarily virtual weeklong orientation will include sessions where our newest medical students will meet Medical School leadership, connect with Curriculum and Student Services teams, meet with their Doctoring group and join their M-Home house, and learn about the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion, among other activities.

The M1 year traditionally begins with the White Coat Ceremony at Hill Auditorium; however, that annual event has been postponed until 2021 due to the COVD-19 pandemic. 

INFECTION PREVENTION: SOCIAL DISTANCING IN THE CLINICAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Optimal care is provided by teams, and our learners are essential members of these teams. Therefore, to keep everyone safe, we must customize our care setting to balance the health and needs of our patients, learners, and providers, as well as access to resources. Please use the following principles to inform decision-making.

Be thoughtful as to the number of learners participating on a team visit for increased risk to patients. When making decisions, consider the educational needs of the visit, for example to demonstrate or verify an exam finding, or to observe a learner’s interactions with a patient or a critical conversation.

In general, team visits should be limited to a faculty member with 1-2 learners (e.g. fellow, resident, or student). If this is a challenge, consider how technology might be used to meet educational goals. For example, try using FaceTime or Zoom to allow the learner to participate from outside the room. You might also assign learners to a subset of patients to allow for an increased number of smaller rounding teams.

When it comes to work areas and team rooms, try to maintain six feet of distance between workstations where possible. Masks should be worn in accordance with the “Michigan Medicine COVID-19 Universal Masking for Employees” document. Finally, make sure hand sanitizer and wipes are readily accessible.

If you are uncertain about how to apply these principles in the clinical learning environment, please contact IPE.

Still have questions?

We are also posting all daily bulletins and policies on Michigan Medicine Headlines at https://mmheadlines.org/covid-19-updates/.  Please bookmark that site and refer to it throughout the day for the most up-to-date information.

If you still can’t find what you’re looking for on these web pages, please email coronavirus-info@med.umich.edu and your question will be answered as quickly as possible.  Do not use this email for sharing patient health information.