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Frequently Asked Questions

Community Engagement Virtual Meeting

Community Engagement Virtual Meeting - Thursday, March 11, 2021

QUESTIONS FOR 3/11/21 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MEETING

CURRENT NUMBERS FOR COUNTY

  1. Positive Cases- 48,432 / total active 858
  2. Positive Cases in Kaweah Health - 26
  3. Deaths -781
  4. Recovered Cases- 46,793
  5. Positive Employees at Kaweah Health- 1200 total, only 27 are out recovering
  6. Positivity Rate- 4.4%, puts the County in Tier 3- Orange
  7. Hospital Census – 82.6%
  1. What are your thoughts on the new CDC masking guideline easing restrictions for people who are fully vaccinated?
  • I am glad to see it. Being vaccinated doesn’t prevent you from getting or transmitting the virus. 60% of employees have been vaccinated and 40% are still waiting. The CDC’s guidelines now state that those who are fully vaccinated can gather, but it is limited to two families.
  1. When is Lifestyles opening? Where is the COVID collection site moving once Lifestyles opens?
  • The Lifestyles will open on Wednesday, March 17, 2021.The COVID collection site has moved back to Court Street Urgent Care Center.
  1. Do community members have to go through MyTurn to make an appointment for a vaccine at KD’s Urgent Care?
  • If you want to be vaccinated at Kaweah Health Urgent Care on Court Street, go to www.kaweahdelta.org, scroll down until you see COVID vaccinations. If you are eligible, you can click and see what appointments are available. If there are no appointments, scroll down further and fill out the vaccine interest form. The staff will contact you when appointments are available. If you are not eligible, you can fill out the form and they will contact you when vaccinations are available to you.
  • You can also go to www.myturn.ca.gov and register for one of the many vaccination clinics throughout the County.
  1. Do you know the percentage of community members who have been vaccinated?
  • The County has given out 62,216 vaccines, which translates to 12.84% of the population. There are 41.7% who are pending their second dose.
  1. If another surge happens will we have to shut down again or will we adapt and just use precautions?
  • It depends on the size of the surge. The surge we experienced in December was so devastating, we had no choice but to shut down. Today, we are fully open and because we are vaccinated, I don’t think we will have another surge.
  1. Have February financials been released? If so, was February a better month financially for the hospital vs. the prior months?
  • February was not a good month. Surgeries were still restricted and folks were apprehensive to come to the hospital. We were able to offset our losses with stimulus funds, so, we had a $1.1 Million operating loss.
  1. This Saturday will be the one-year anniversary of COVID at our facilities. Our teams will be commemorating this event and have been submitting the changes their groups have made over the year and the positive elements that have come from those adjustments. As you look back over this last year is there a particular change that stands out that you feel has made you stronger as a leader and us stronger as an organization?
  • I never would have imagined spending so much time virtually interacting with our community and share information about Kaweah Health. I have done dozens of television interviews, employee huddles, community engagement webinars and town halls. Professionally it has helped me develop as a speaker and to become more comfortable being in front of people. I made the commitment to transparency when I became CEO of this organization and I have done my best to honor that commitment during the pandemic. I hope to be able to continue this engagement and look forward to continuing the virtual meetings into the future.