DCH Coronavirus Update 12-31-20

Final Thoughts for 2020 and a Toast for the Year to Come

It is hard to count down the final hours of this chaotic year without reflecting on some of our accomplishments and challenges.

We went from rumors of a virus to setting up and maintaining a community testing service that has lasted most of the year. We worked together through loss and fear to find strength. We have continually come up with new ways to keep serving our community.

Likewise, the community came together to provide meals, masks, face shields, viral medium, hand sanitizer, gloves, sewing, signs, cards and so much more. In many ways, they came to recognize the heroes that many of us already saw in the DCH team every day.

Now patient COVID-19 numbers that once seemed nearly overwhelming are the target that we hope to get back down to soon. Longer waits have led to more frustration and the need for more patience. Yet, many of us have learned that we have far deeper wells of determination, capacity and compassion than we ever imagined.

Here is to the incredible learning and growth we have all gone through this year. Here is to honoring the lives of those we lost and celebrating the victories of those who have made it through. Here is to starting a new year stronger and full of hope.

To the DCH team, thank you for your continued service and efforts. You are appreciated.

More Vaccine Testimonials

Currently we are still in phase 1a of the Alabama Department of Public Health COVID-19 vaccination plan, which includes frontline health workers (inpatient and outpatient) and some first responders. Following is another brief video from DCH employees who agreed to share their thoughts on why they chose to receive the vaccine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7tzr-wy2us&feature=youtu.be

Remote Site Testing and Vaccination Holiday Hours

DCH’s COVID-19 screening and testing and vaccination service at its remote site in the Laundry Lot just west of DCH Regional Medical Center will be closed tomorrow (Friday, Jan. 1) for New Year’s. Next week the site will be back to its regular hours, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 8 a.m.–noon for testing and Monday through Friday, by appointment, for vaccinations.

Testing and Confirmed Cases

To protect patient privacy, DCH has established a minimum threshold of five for reporting numbers of inpatients with laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19.

DCH Health System internal counts as of 3:28 p.m. on 12/31/20:

• 156 inpatients within the DCH system who are positive for COVID-19.
• 35 inpatients who are positive for COVID-19 are being treated in the ICU.
• 17 who are positive for COVID-19 are on ventilators.
• 14 who are positive for COVID-19 are on a BiPAP.
• We are conducting some maintenance to the feed for unique positive and negative tests for COVID-19 so that chart and those numbers are not included today.
• 7,459 (cumulative) positive COVID-19 at DCH sites. These individuals are not necessarily in the hospital.
• 54,397 (cumulative) negative tests at DCH sites.
• 2,043 inpatients (cumulative) who were positive for COVID-19 have been discharged.
• 356 inpatients (cumulative) who were positive for COVID-19 have died at DCH. This is not an indication of the cause of death, only that the individuals were positive for COVID-19 at the time of death.
• 155 Tuscaloosa County residents (cumulative) who were positive for COVID-19 have died (per the Alabama Department of Public Health).