Transcript:
It’s Monday and this week marks our fifth week of response since our first COVID-19 patient was diagnosed. I want to give you some new information around PPE today. You know, the current supply chain for PPE around the country continues to remain very fragile. Even though our current inventory is adequate, our procurement team is working around the clock to identify new sources and supplies of PPE to meet the daily challenge. The market for these supplies has been completely disrupted. For instance, many hospitals have ordered N95 masks from overseas, only to have them redirected by the US government to other hot spots around the country when the masks land at customs on US soil. Baptist, ourselves, ordered 100,000 N95 masks from overseas, only to find that when they arrived, they were not of legitimate N95 quality and could not be used. If you can find a supply of N-95 masks today, the going rate is around $6.50 per mask. Do you know how much Baptist paid for an N95 mask prior to this outbreak? $0.44! As we use thousands of masks per day just for our system alone, the numbers are staggering. So what will we do going forward? One of the ways w’ll ensure that we are well protected throughout this pandemic, is by reprocessing N95 masks…now not these surgical masks like the one I’m wearing but only the N95s. Many studies have been completed and the CDC has released guidance approving the use of N95 reprocessing. We will begin this week using our 23 Sterrad machines across the system to sterilize N95masks. These are the same machines we use to sterilize surgical instruments for reuse in our operating rooms. Using a combination of CDC approved technologies including ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, vaporous hydrogen peroxide, and moist heat, these masks will be cleaned up to two times before we eventually dispose of the mask. I’m grateful for how hard our teams are working to ensure that our supplies continue to be available for all our staff.
Now one other reminder for you as we all work to maintain a great experience for our patients in the midst of the pandemic. You will recall that before this outbreak, we spent a lot of time talking about our Baptist CARES system…. our 5 principles and our always behaviors. One of those behaviors was to make eye contact and acknowledge each other with a cheerful greeting. Can I please remind you that these masks do not change that always behavior? I’ve observed and experienced how easy it is to forget about your facial expressions when you are behind a mask. Sometimes I feel like I’ve vanished behind this thing or I am some new character in a Halloween costume. Let me encourage you that eye contact and a cheerful greeting is even more important today that ever. Your eyes tell me if you are smiling even behind a mask. And a cheerful greeting from behind this thing is often the difference between you being a hero like Spiderman or a heavy breathing villain like Darth Vader. So keep up the great work, whether it’s a mask or a cape, you all look like heroes to me, and I’m grateful for you. Let’s talk again on Wednesday.
