With more people staying home because of the outbreak, Dr. Mark Patterson, president of Ballad Health Medical Associates, said the system’s urgent care facilities are seeing significantly fewer visits.
“This temporary consolidation will help us prevent lasting damage to our system overall and continue our region’s high quality healthcare as we come together,” said Patterson, who added that the step would also help the system conserve personal protective equipment.
“This is necessary as Ballad Health is bracing for this COVID-19 surge, and while experiencing a catastrophic decline in the volumes, we need to do this to keep our care at its highest level,” Patterson said.
The impacted urgent care centers are:
• Jonesborough: patients will be directed to Johnson City;
• Bristol, Virginia at Exit 7: patients will be directed to Abingdon, Virginia, or State Street in Bristol, Tennessee;
• Bristol, Tennessee, on Volunteer Parkway: patients will be directed to State Street in Bristol, Tennessee;
• Gray: patients will be directed to Johnson City;
• Elizabethton; patients will be directed to Johnson City; and
• Marion, Virginia; patients will be directed to Abingdon, Virginia
Patterson said the system will assess its volumes and reopen the closed centers when it’s able.
Telehealth expansions
As the system gets ready to temporarily consolidate those urgent care facilities, Ballad Health CEO Alan Levine announced Friday the system will also establish a region-wide virtual urgent care center.
“We’re seeing a decline in urgent care volume because people properly want to stay socially distant,” Levine said, “but we also recognize there’s a need for people to see a physician or a provider.”
Patients can access the virtual urgent care center for a flat $30 fee per visit. Users will have access to a provider, a diagnosis or an assessment and, if needed, a prescription.
Levine said the system is also expanding its telehealth program, Connected Care, to 300 primary care and specialty physicians in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.
COVID-19 patients and distancing
Jamie Swift, the system’s corporate director of infection prevention, said Friday that Ballad Health is currently caring for 15 COVID-19 patients. The system now has 300 beds available for patients with the virus.
With Easter coming, Swift stressed that local residents shouldn’t grow complacent about social distancing.
“This is not a time to relax and come together and think that one weekend won’t matter,” Swift said. “Truly, one weekend will affect our numbers two weeks from now. ... Now is the time to buckle down.”
According to Ballad Health, the region is lagging behind other parts of the U.S. in its social distancing efforts, particularly when it comes to reducing the number of visits and time spent at non-essential locations.
Ballad Health reports that most counties in the Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia have seen a 51% to 74% reduction in total distance traveled compared to travel habits before the outbreak.
Anthony Keck, Ballad’s executive vice president for system innovation and population health, said counties in the region should aim for a 75% reduction in total distance traveled.
“We’re doing a good job at reducing our total distance traveled,” Keck said. “We’re not traveling outside the region as much. We’re not traveling to work as often.”
However, Keck said regional data showing the number of visits to non-essential locations, such as movie theaters, restaurants and shopping centers, needs improvement.
Many counties in the region haven’t experienced even a 25% reduction in non-essential visits, and none are above the 50% threshold.
“We need to do much better than that if we’re going to stop the spread of this disease,” Keck said.
"care" - Google News
April 11, 2020 at 05:37AM
https://ift.tt/2V0OQ1y
Ballad Health to temporarily close six urgent care centers - Johnson City Press (subscription)
"care" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2N6arSB
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Ballad Health to temporarily close six urgent care centers - Johnson City Press (subscription)"
Post a Comment