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February 17, 2022 - Community Engagement Virtual Meeting

QUESTIONS FOR 2/17/2022 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MEETING

  1. CURRENT COVID-19 NUMBERS IN KAWEAH HEALTH
    1. Positive COVID-19 cases currently in Kaweah Health:
      As of this morning, we had 83 COVID-positive patients in inpatient beds.
    2. How many are in ICU and do we have empty beds in our ICU?
      10 of the admitted COVID inpatients were in the ICU. As of this morning, six of our 41 ICU beds were available for admission or transfer.
    3. Hospital Census:
      As of this morning, 323 of our 344 adult inpatient beds were occupied, representing an occupancy rate of 94%; in addition, we had another 30 patients waiting in the Emergency Department for an inpatient bed to open up (what we call an “admit hold” patient); including these admit hold patients, our real adjusted occupancy rate was 103%.
    4. Vaccinated employee percentage:
      Our employee vaccination rate for those employees that are subject to the Governor’s vaccination mandate is approximately 82%; for our Medical Staff providers, it is approximately 96%.
  1. A community member recently had surgery at an out-patient facility that does not require COVID testing. Why do some facilities require testing and others do not?
    The prescreening of patients for a COVID infection is not mandated and therefore is based on the decisions made by the medical staff and facilities in which the patient is undergoing surgery. Our team at Kaweah Health performs the screening for COVID as part of the preadmission education and testing 48 to 72 hours prior to the patient’s admission for the procedure/surgery. Working with the anesthesia providers, surgeons and patient care team members, Kaweah Health has chosen to screen patients prior to surgery when these patients are presenting from home for a scheduled procedure. This provides us the opportunity to identify any patient who may be asymptomatic and have a COVID infection.

Why is this important to know? When a patient is being intubated, placing a breathing tube into the airway, the provider and staff are placed at a higher risk for contracting COVID if the patient was asymptomatic and the team is exposed to this aerosol generating procedure. However, if the patient with a positive COVID test cannot be postponed, the staff and physician take the necessary precautions to limit exposure to our care team and the patients that they may come into contact with.

COVID remains a highly transmittable respiratory disease and Kaweah Health has chosen to take all precautions to protect the patients and the patient care team.

  1. The state is lifting a requirement that people test negative before visiting hospitals and nursing homes. Does that line up with Kaweah’s process?
    We have not received anything from the State indicating that this requirement has been lifted or is in the process of being lifted. While new rules went into place on Wednesday, February 16th, for the general public allowing vaccinated individuals to enter restaurants, stores and other businesses without a mask, none of these changes applied to hospitals. This said, it is still possible that the State will issue new rules in the coming weeks if the Omicron virus continues to subside.
  2. The second redistricting meeting happened last week.
    1. How many maps have been submitted by community members?
      1. We have received two maps (Map #1 and Map #2) from a single community member which were presented to the Board at its February 9th special Board Meeting/Map Workshop #1. At this meeting, the community member withdrew their Map #1. At this point we only have one community map and five maps created by our consultant that are currently under consideration.
    2. How many meetings are we required to have?
      1. Special Districts are only required to have one meeting. Kaweah Health will be having four (4). One each month in January, February, March and April.
    3. When will the final map be chosen?
      1. Action must be taken by the Board by April 17th as required by the election code related to special districts.
  3. The 2021 Leapfrog Awards are out. What are the awards that Kaweah has just been honored with?
    1. Leapfrog Fall of 2021 “A” Letter Grade for Patient Safety
    2. HealthGrades Awards: America’s 250 Best Hospitals for 4 Years in a Row (2019-2022):

Cardiac

  • Cardiac Surgery Excellence Award™ for 6 Years in a Row (2017-2022)
    • Nation’s Top 5% for Cardiac Surgery for 5 Years in a Row (2018-2022)
    • Nation’s Top 10% for Cardiac Surgery for 6 Years in a Row (2017-2022)
  • 5-Stars in Coronary Bypass Surgery for 6 Years in a Row (2017-2022)
  • 5-Stars in Valve Surgery for 2 years in a Row (2021-2022)
  • 5-Stars for Treatment of Heart Attack in 2022
  • 5-Stars for Treatment of Heart Failure for 2 Years in a Row (2021-2022)

Neurosciences

  • Stroke Care Excellence Award™ for 4 Years in a Row (2019-2022)
    • Nation’s Top 10% for Treatment of Stroke for 4 Years in a Row (2019-2022)
  • 5-Stars for Treatment of Stroke for 8 Years in a Row (2015-2022)

Pulmonary

  • Pulmonary Care Excellence Award™ for 9 Years in a Row (2014-2022)
    • Nation’s Top 5% for Overall Pulmonary Services for 2 Years in a Row (2021-2022)
    • Nation’s Top 10% for Overall Pulmonary Services for 9 Years in a Row (2014-2022)
  • 5-Stars for Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease for 2 Years in a Row (2021-2022)
  • 5-Stars for Treatment of Pneumonia for 9 Years in a Row (2014-2022)

Gastrointestinal

  • 5-Stars for Treatment of GI Bleed in 2022

Critical Care

  • Critical Care Excellence Award™ for 3 Years in a Row (2020-2022)
    • Nation’s Top 5% for Critical Care for 2 Years in a Row (2021-2022)
    • Nation’s Top 10% for Critical Care for 3 Years in a Row (2020-2022)
  • 5-Stars for Treatment of Sepsis for 10 Years in a Row (2013-2022)
  • 5-Stars for Treatment of Respiratory Failure for 4 Years in a Row (2019-2022)