- Although we continue to see an increase in COVID-19 patients, the rate of increase remains low, and we’re hopeful the stay-at-home orders are helping flatten the curve.
- Further good news is that although COVID-19 remains a very dangerous illness, but we are seeing some seriously ill patients recover and leave our hospitals. We have had a patient at UPMC Hanover and UPMC Memorial that had been intubated for several days. These patients have since been extubated and are recovering. On Monday, April 13, the patient from UPMC Hanover was successfully discharged.
- UPMC system wide has 98 inpatients positive for COVID-19 being safely cared for and treated. Many do not need intensive care or ventilators. Today, UPMC Hanover has no positive cases and 1 rule out patient and UPMC Memorial has 5 positive cases and 2 rule out patients.
- UPMC Pinnacle Southern Region Leadership continues to have weekly calls with representatives from the York County Bureau of Health and WellSpan. These calls are intended to collaboratively share updates and preparations.
- UPMC Hanover continues to provide outpatient specimen collection for those with an appointment.
- Patients are continuing to turn to our telemedicine options for primary and specialty care. For the week ending April 5, UPMC Pinnacle did 2,278 ambulatory (primary care and specialty) virtual telemedicine visits. This is a 300 percent increase from the week before. We also did 375 inpatient telemedicine consults, for a total of 2,653 telemedicine visits.
- UPMC Pinnacle’s Video Visit webpage now includes an education demo video for patients. The easy, step-by-step tutorial assists patients in setting up their scheduled virtual visit with a primary care or specialty care provider through the MyPinnacleHealth (MyChart) portal. Check it out at com/VideoVisitDemo.
- A letter to our local papers has been sent from Michael Gaskins, thanking our communities for their generous support. The letter also reminds the public that we have Video Visits available for their ongoing needs and that we have revised our visitation policies and are conducting a thorough screening of visitors at our hospitals and cancer centers to ensure the safety of patients and staff.
- UPMC continues to be a leader in medical innovation. On Thursday, April 9 the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC announced a new approach to clinical trials they are pioneering that could translate into faster courses of treatment for COVID-19. The trial uses artificial intelligence to help determine which of multiple COVID-19 treatments are working the best. For more information on this and all UPMC media coverage, including UPMC Pinnacle, visit https://www.upmc.com/media/in-the-news
- Last week we launched “Help the Helpers,” a joint initiative of the City of Harrisburg and UPMC today. “Help the Helpers” invites our community to show support to health care workers, as well as grocery clerks, pharmacists, garbage collectors, delivery drivers, and others who perform essential roles to keep our communities safe. The campaign leverages the famous Fred Rogers advice – Look for the helpers. Community members are encouraged to share their “help the helpers” stories with the hashtag #HELPTHEHELPERS. Window signs and social frames can be downloaded at com/HELPTHEHELPERS. (See image.) This is being rolled out in cities across the UPMC footprint.
- UPMC also launched a new “Here’s to the Heroes” TV spot this weekend that recognizes the extraordinary work of our doctors, nurses, and staff. The spot highlights your work and supports the “Thank You to Our Staff for Being Amazing” messages that has already appear on social media and outdoor boards.
- UPMC Pinnacle has been working with community, county and city groups to develop a plan to address any sheltered or un-sheltered individuals who may be impacted by COVID-19. In our Dauphin Region, we have our Community Health Initiative nurses going out weekly to assess the individuals at the outside encampments.We provided our Southern Region with hygiene bags for those in quarantine. In our Cumberland Region, we are supporting their initiative to provide support to the sheltered and un-sheltered individuals who need help.