Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital Weekly Update, May 5, 2020.

Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital Weekly Update, May 5, 2020.

The following was submitted by Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital:

If you have specific questions about hospital operations, please contact the hospital directly at 231-843-2591. The hospital does not respond to questions asked on the MCP or OCP Facebook pages.

LUDINGTON —Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital is providing a weekly update regarding activities and current happenings related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We encourage you to visit spectrumhealth.org/covid-19. The dashboard below reflects the 16-county region served by Spectrum Health. Local information can be found on the District #10 Health Department web site at www.dhd10.org.

As of Tuesday, May 5, 2020:

COVID-19 positive cases. To date, as of Tuesday, May 5, there are 12 confirmed cases in Mason County, 19 in Oceana County, 11 in Manistee County, and two in Lake County. Confirmed cases and deaths will be reported through the District Health Department at www.dhd10.org. Ludington Hospital has completed 566 specimen collections for testing to date.

Graph reflects all Spectrum Health services

Local COVID-19 specimen collection and testing.  Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital is now offering drive-up specimen collection every day from 2 to 5 p.m. A patient must have a scheduled appointment, following screening through the Spectrum Health free statewide screening hotline (1.833.559.0659). Specimens continue to be driven to and tested through the Spectrum Health lab in Grand Rapids, which is currently running roughly 1,600 COVID-19 tests per day with 24-hour turnaround. Shorter-turnaround testing is available at the Ludington Hospital lab for those patients who meet clinically indicated criteria. Not all patients are eligible for rapid testing due to limited testing supplies. 

Next week begins Nurses Week 2020. Nurses are the heartbeat of health care, and now more than ever, their essential role in patient care and safety is celebrated across the nation. Nurses Week is May 6 – 12, culminating on the 200^th birthday of Florence Nightingale, and also begins the start of Health Care Week. A West Michigan-wide luminary ceremony honoring all health care workers is planned for Tuesday, May 12 at 9 p.m. Families are encouraged to safely display luminaries of any style or type at their homes, with bags, milk jugs or cans decorated with the name of a health care worker they would like to honor. Battery operated tea lights can be placed in each luminary to light up the night and light up our West Michigan communities in honor of the thousands of health care workers on the front lines. Visit the Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital Facebook page to post your family’s luminary lighting, decorations and names of those you are honoring.

Employer resources. Spectrum Health is making employer resource documents available as businesses and organizations across west Michigan begin to ease back into opening. Information is available about contact tracing, effective personal protective equipment, employee screening protocols, cleaning guidelines, infection prevention practices, and much more. Employers can find this information at  https://www.spectrumhealth.org/covid19/employer-resources or can call the Employer Hotline at 1.616.486.1075.

Spectrum Health Ludington Benefit Ball 2020.  We are in the process of communicating to attendees and sponsors the cancellation for this year’s Benefit Ball. We will provide an online giving opportunity for those who have asked how they can help the local front lines of health care at our local hospital.

COVID-19 Relief Grant. We thank United Way of Mason County and the Community Foundation for providing Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital with a $5,000 grant from the local COVID-19 relief fund. The grant will go toward hospital costs for setting up local testing operations. Funds will help with costs incurred for supplies, PPE, cleaning materials and more.

Limited services begin to resume.  Spectrum Health is beginning to resume services on a very limited basis that, in a medical provider’s judgment, are essential to a patient’s health, safety or welfare and should not be delayed. Many safety measures are in place to ensure patient and team member safety as some services are resumed. Masks will be provided to patients and visitors, and proper social distancing will be practiced, as well as personal protective equipment for team members as they work with patients. Seating options in all common areas and waiting rooms will support guidelines for social distancing. Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital environmental services teams have done an exceptional job implementing even more stringent cleaning protocols and schedules. We are doing everything possible to help ensure the safety of patients and team members.

What to Know When Wearing a Standard Isolation Mask. If coming in to Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital, isolation masks are provided. Please follow the tips below to ensure proper use of isolation masks:

Do:

• Ensure mask has no defects prior to putting it on
• Sanitize your hands prior to putting on and when removing a mask
• If the mask has a color on one side, wear with the colored side facing out away from your face
• Wear with nose bridge at the top (you’ll notice ability to mold mask to nose bridge, if on correctly)
• Cover your nose and mouth
• Ensure mask pleats are facing down
• Remove when eating and drinking

Do Not:

• Wear upside down or inside out (white part facing forward)
• Touch the outside of your mask
• Pull down over your chin (this leads to greatest exposure risk)
• Leave half-off, hanging from one ear
• Crisscross ear ties

Events and classes.  All classes and events sponsored and hosted by Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital are being evaluated to determine if they can be resumed in a safe manner or in a virtual environment. We are evaluating how our classes can be held going forward in a way that allows safe participation. For a list of all classes and events that are cancelled, visit: https://www.spectrumhealth.org/cancellations.