Today’s HRO Tip: Keep Focused An oral controlled substance was misplaced because the nurse was called away to another room. The interruption not only delayed obtaining medication for the patient, but several individuals were involved in an effort to find the medication. The most likely scenario was the medication was

disposed of with empty plastic packaging, but in the interim the trash was emptied. Interruptions during critical tasks must be avoided. Team members must respect their colleagues’ focus when a critical task is underway. When task switching is unavoidable, be sure to find a strategy that can help you know where you left off.

The following is an update on Hackensack Meridian Health’s COVID-19 status, recovery and readiness efforts as of October 29, 2020. COVID -19 updates are released on Mondays and Thursdays. Status

The following is a breakdown of the number of COVID-19 inpatient positive and those waiting for test results across our network as of October 29, 2020.

Hospital & Long Term Care Current Inpatient Total Inpatients Positive Awaiting Test Results Hackensack University Medical Center 45 0 Jersey Shore University Medical Center 20 3 JFK Medical Center 25 2 19 2 5 1 20 0 Raritan Bay Medical Center – Perth Amboy 3 0 Raritan Bay Medical Center – Old Bridge 7 2 Southern Ocean Medical Center 1 0 Bayshore Medical Center 7 2 Mountainside Medical Center 13 2 Pascack Valley Medical Center 5 2 Carrier Clinic 0 0 HMH Long-term Care Facilities 4 0 Total Hospital & Long Term Care 174 16 Ambulatory Practices Current Positive Total Patients Tested HMH Medical Group and Urgent Care Centers 3,720 52,182 Homecare Current Positive Total Patients Awaiting Test Results HMH Homecare 47 0

Tuesday’s Situational Analysis (10/27): On Tuesday, COVID-19 volumes at our hospitals decreased 4.8% or 9 patients, leaving us with 180 COVID-19 patients in our hospitals. When long-term care facilities are included, our COVID-19 patient volume decreased by 3.6%, leaving us with to 185 patients.

Yesterday’s Situational Analysis (10/28): Yesterday, COVID-19 volumes at our hospitals increased 3.9% or 7 patients, leaving us with 187 COVID-19 patients in our hospitals. When long-term care facilities are included, our COVID-19 patient volume increased by 4.3%, leaving us with to 193 patients.

Today’s Situational Analysis (10/29): Since yesterday, COVID-19 volumes at our hospitals decreased .54 % or 1 patient, leaving us with 186 COVID-19 patients in our hospitals. When long-term care facilities are included, our COVID-19 patient volume decreased by 1.6%, leaving us with 190 patients.

For a look at how this recent uptick looks compared to prior months, please see the charts. Chart 1 shows HMH’s COVID-19 hospitalizations since the beginning of the pandemic. Chart 2 shows ’s COVID-19 hospitalization trends from July 1 until today.

Above: Chart 1

Above: Chart 2

Update: Travel Advisory There are now 41 states and U.S. jurisdictions on New Jersey’s travel advisory list, where out of state travelers should quarantine for 14 days upon arriving to New Jersey. Since last week, California and Massachusetts were added. No states or territories were removed. See below for the complete list:

Alabama Kentucky Ohio Alaska Louisiana Oklahoma Arizona Maryland Puerto Rico Arkansas Massachusetts Rhode Island California Michigan South Carolina Colorado Minnesota South Dakota Florida Mississippi Tennessee Georgia Missouri Texas Guam Montana Utah Iowa Nebraska Virginia Illinois Nevada West Virginia Idaho New Mexico Wisconsin Indiana North Carolina Wyoming Graphic Source: Connecticut’s Official State Website Kansas North Dakota

Neighboring states Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Delaware still meet the criteria for New Jersey’s travel advisory. Due to the interconnected nature of the region, New Jersey has decided a 14-day quarantine is not reasonable in all instances. However, the state is discouraging non-essential travel to and from these states. Meanwhile, New York and Connecticut are also discouraging non-essential travel to and from New Jersey, but are not mandating that travelers quarantine due to the interconnected nature of the region.

New: Yesterday’s Virtual Town Hall Playback Yesterday, CEO Bob Garrett held a special HMHWeek Virtual Town Hall where he discussed what it means to be Connected, our 5th C, with team members from across the network. If you missed yesterday’s town hall, you can watch it by clicking here and entering the passcode: TownHall1028! Recovery

Update: Patient Volume The HMH team continues to rebuild its patient volumes following the height of the pandemic. Here’s a look at how our hospitals are doing:  Our admissions remain steady at 95% across the network, compared to our pre-COVID volume.  Our elective surgeries and invasive procedures are at 94%, compared to our pre-COVID volume.  Our outpatient volume average for MRIs, chemotherapy, CT scans and PET scans is at 86% compared to our pre-COVID average.

 Our Emergency Department volume is at 73%, compared to our pre-COVID volume.

All volumes except Emergency Department volumes, which increased, remained flat since last week.

Here’s a look at how our ambulatory services* are doing:  Trends of high ambulatory volume continue. Hackensack Meridian Medical Group forecasts October to be the first month with patient visits exceeding the baseline. September was close, closing at 98.7% of baseline.  The 30-day average visits is 4,059, 108% of baseline.  October calendar daily average is 105% of baseline. *This data is reflective of Epic offices only. Above: Lorna Schneider, Nurse Manager in Critical Care at Palisades Medical Center, helps lift team member spirits.

New: HMH Makes News HMH continues to make headlines in its fight against COVID-19. Dr. Laurie Jacobs, chair of internal medicine at Hackensack University Medical Center, was recently interview by Modern Healthcare about HMH’s COVID Recovery Center which has already seen hundreds of recovered COVID patients who are dealing with long- term side effects from the virus. You can read the article by clicking here.

Readiness

New: Today’s Preparedness Webinar This morning Audrey Murphy, Esq., MSN, RN, executive vice president and chief legal officer of operations and Deeba Siddiqui, RN, DNP, CPPS, CPHQ, vice-president of clinical risk and loss prevention and enterprise risk management, hosted a webinar dedicated to how HMH is responding to team member concerns and the specific steps it is taking to enhance its COVID 2.0 preparations. If you missed this morning’s webinar, you can watch it by clicking here and entering the passcode: Covid2.0

Remember to check out the COVID 2.0 Playbook and all the work that’s been done to outline our preparedness plan. *Please note, you must be logged in to the HMH network either at an HMH facility or through Citrix/VMWare to access the document. It is for internal use only.

New: HMH Prepares for the Post-COVID Tomorrow ROI-NJ recently interviewed CEO Bob Garrett about his vision for health care post-COVID. He discussed HMH’s COVID 2.0 plan and what HMH is experiencing in its hospitals today. You can read CEO Bob Garrett’s full interview by clicking here.

Clarification: Photos of our BI team were featured in Monday’s COVID-19 Status, Recovery & Readiness Update. These photos were taken prior to COVID-19, and thus team members were in close proximity and not masked. The BI team has not been in-person with each other since mid- March and wanted to showcase the comradery they enjoyed in the office prior to the pandemic. We apologize if these photos caused any confusion, and remind all team members to continue to mask, socially distance and stay home if sick.

Keeping HMH Secure Recently, federal authorities alerted the health care industry to information they have about a credible cyberthreat. Our IT is tracking this latest cyberthreat and some key takeaways include:  The cyberthreat appears to involve Trickbot malware that ultimately leads to a Ryuk ransomware attack.  Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are working to get more details and hope to share them as soon as possible.  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is not aware of any impact on medical devices, at this time.

It is important to practice these simple steps to help protect yourself and HMH from cyberthreats:  If you receive an email that has the following banner and you were not expecting it, DO NOT open any file attachments or click on any links. DELETE the email: Note, THIS IS AN EXTERNAL EMAIL. It did not originate at Hackensack Meridian Health Network.  DO NOT click on a link or an attachment in an email if it seems suspicious.  DO NOT provide your user name or password.

In Outlook: If you receive an email that you believe to be a phishing attempt, please report it immediately. To report a suspicious email, click the “Report Phishing” button on the upper right-hand side of the ribbon bar in Outlook. (If you do not see your phishing reporter icon in your Outlook toolbar, please just delete the email.)

On a Mobile Device: Click on the three dots and then select "Report Phish." The email will be deleted from your inbox and sent to HMH's email protection system for analysis. You will receive a response that will tell you if the email was a phishing attempt.

For questions or assistance, contact: IT Service Desk at x3333 or 848-237-3333.