Frequently Asked Questions

What are the current numbers?

State Level
3.1 million tests performed
161,000 positive cases
5,300 deaths
5.2% positivity rate - spans entire span 100 days (has decreased from the beginning)
3,400 patients hospitalized
1,100 in the Intensive Care Unit
12,500 Positive Healthcare workers
76 Healthcare worker deaths

County Level
3,007 positive cases
**positive cases will increase due to number of tests being performed
107 deaths (80 deaths were from nursing home patients)
2,236 have fully recovered
49 patients are hospitalized across county
11 in the Intensive Care Unit
6 on ventilators

Kaweah Delta
41 positive cases
7 in the Intensive Care Unit
9 in the Intermediate Critical Care Unit
25 on 2 South (dedicated respiratory unit)

Employees
111 positive
66 fully recovered
45 are home and quarantined
1 hospitalization

Physicians
4 providers positive and fully recovered

Why is Tulare hospital not accepting patients?

They are a 112-bed hospital, but have only opened and staffed 11 beds since they reopened. They have had challenges with staffing as well as obtaining physicians. The community has been slow to return to their hospital for treatment. Tulare is part of Adventist Health with hospitals in Hanford and Bakersfield available with more staffing and equipment. I think Tulare made a conscious decision, due to their size, to send their COVID patients to Hanford for treatment.

Have there been any cases of COVID in children in our county?

We have had a few cases of COVID positive children, but can count them on one hand. In every positive case, we have transferred them to Valley Children’s Hospital for care. We have heard of COVID triggering Kawasaki disease in children, but our pediatricians and specialists are very skilled in treating the disease. I have not heard that Valley Children’s has been impacted by the virus.

What is the current hospital census?

We have 408 beds at Kaweah Delta

320 beds are occupied - 41 are COVID patients

We have 80 beds available throughout the medical center.

What is the current positivity rate?

The County positivity rate was not posted on their website.

Has Kaweah Delta received any additional financial assistance from the government to help with the extra COVID expenses? If not, are we expecting any help?

We have not received any additional stimulus money since the $13.2 million we received a couple of months ago. Earlier this week we reported to the Federal Government our statistics on how impacted we have been with the COVID virus, including number of admissions, deaths, and employees. We did not report lost revenue. We submitted a lost revenue report to be eligible to participate in the next wave of financial help, which is 10 billion dollars. We should qualify to get some of that money. Our hole right now is $40 million so we are desperately hoping the government will continue to provide funding for hospitals. We continue to reach out to our Senators, Congressmen, and Congresswomen to tell our story.

How many positive cases are retests for the same person?

There have been 268 retests on positive patients, however, in Tulare County, retests are not counted in the overall positive numbers.

How many times can a person be retested?

A patient can be re-tested for many purposes, such as, transfer to a skilled nursing facility, a clearance for surgery or procedure, and when they become hospitalized.

How many successful extubations have we had?

We have had 12 successful COVID extubations. The drug, Remdisivir, has shortened the time patients are on the ventilator. The longer you are on a ventilator, the risker it becomes for pneumonia and/or infections. We have seen many come off the ventilators with no complications.

How many employees have tested positive for the antibodies and are the employees that have tested positive for the antibodies the same employees that have recovered from COVID? When will it be available to the community?

As of Tuesday, June 16^th, we had tested 1,910 employees, residents, and physicians out of 5,700. 58 tested positive for antibodies, which is a 3% positivity rate. We started testing those with the greatest risk of contracting the disease by working directly with COVID patients, and were pleasantly surprised at the low number.

Out of the 100 employees that tested positive for COVID, we re-tested eight of those for antibodies, and their tests were negative. We now have our epidemiologists studying these tests to see if there were false positives or negatives. It also brings up more questions such as, if you have the COVID virus, does it always mean you will get the antibodies? How long to the antibodies stay? Do the antibodies disappear after some time? There is still much research to be done.

We should be ready in a couple of weeks to extend the testing to the public through their physician’s office.

Since we keep hearing about a possible surge in the fall, how is Kaweah Delta doing with PPE and supplies?

We are definitely doing better than we were at the beginning. Currently we have the following:

• 110,000 N95 masks - staff getting a brand new one every day
• 290,000 surgical masks - staff getting a new mask with every room entry
• 70,000 gloves
• 5,000 face shields
• 1,800 goggles/eye protection
• 32,000 isolation gowns.

We are continuing to order supplies as we go. Surgical masks are coming in routinely as we order. We are very particular about the type of N95 masks we order. We use the 3M N95 masks and they are still difficult to acquire, but we continue to order and wait for shipments. We are also looking for warehouse space to store PPE in preparation for a surge, which is now a requirement from the government.

What are the hospital’s recommendations for people who travel? Is it necessary to quarantine when we return home? Has there been instances of risk increasing due to air travel?

One of the very first things we did was cancel all travel and had strict shelter at home policies for our employees. We still don’t allow conference travel and we don’t allow vendors into the hospital. One of the most important things we can recommend is to stay away from the COVID hot spots, such as Arizona, Imperial Valley, Mexico, and Brazil. If an employee was to travel to one of those areas, they would be required to quarantine for 14 days upon their return. There is no requirement for any other travel.

Air travel is still a slight concern, but most airlines are requiring masks be worn at all times and they are checking temperatures before boarding. They are also distancing passengers. As always, just be vigilant and careful.

Governor Gavin Newsom just issued an order that California’s must wear face coverings in public.

The governor has been receiving a lot of pressure to make this happen. Kaweah Delta is already practicing this in all of our facilities, as well as encouraging our employees to wear a mask in public. This is to protect others from you and help minimize the spread of the virus.

Why does the CDC require the re-tests be added to the positive total?

Our county does not do that. We had heard that Tulare County was counting every positive test, even if it was the same person. We spoke directly to the county, Karen Elliott and Dr. Haught , and they confirmed they are not counting them multiple times.

Has Lifestyles seen a large amount of people come back to the gym or was the opening slow?

The first day we opened, last Friday, we had 580 visitors. The numbers have increased each day, with this week averaging 700 per day. This comes out to 50-60% of normal attendance.

How long will the hospital keep the Command Center running?

Eventually we will dismantle the Command Center, but we haven’t set an exact date yet. We are convinced COVID will be here for an indefinite amount of time, because there is no vaccine yet, and we are still having outbreaks. Our teams are becoming more experienced and steady in dealing with this virus. As we get closer to closing the Command Center, we are working on incorporating the new procedures they have put into place, into our normal operations. If a resurgence should occur, we can bring the Command Center back up.

Is the “No Visitor” policy still in place?

Yes, it is still in place. It is something we discuss very often because we want to loosen up. At the same time, we have more COVID patients as well as employees testing positive so we are using an abundance of caution. For now, we are keeping the safety of our patients and visitors in mind, and not allowing visitors.

Employee Relief Fund

Due to the contributions from our Kaweah Delta employees and members of our community, the Employee Relief Fund has hit the $100,000 mark! It has meant a lot to the employees that have been helped by this fund.

Sequoia Regional Cancer Center (SRCC) and the Imaging Center are no longer monitoring temperatures of patients. Is there not a blanket screening policy for the hospital?

SRCC is two businesses under one common roof. Radiology/Oncology is under Kaweah Delta and is subject to the same requirements we have here at the Medical Center. Medical Oncology is a private physician practice, which is not a part of Kaweah Delta, but they lease the space inside SRCC. They may not require the screening of patients.