Dear Colleagues:
I am so proud of, and grateful for, our phenomenal WMCHealth workforce. This includes our frontline teams who are caring for our COVID-19 and non-COVID patients, as well as our dedicated army of non-patient care team members who are providing around-the-clock support.
As we continue to respond to the COVID-19 situation, I want to underscore that a safe and effective care environment is our highest priority. WMCHealth hospitals and medical practices are taking all necessary steps to protect our patients and our workforce as COVID-19 care needs evolve.
WMCHealth has adequate PPE, ventilators, medical equipment, and appropriate spaces to care for patients with COVID-19. We continue to accept patients directly, and are also transferring the most critically ill patients, who require the highest level of care and technology, to Westchester Medical Center from our Network hospitals throughout the Hudson Valley.
Like every other healthcare organization in the nation, we are managing our supply use and source pipelines very carefully. WMCHealth has adequate PPE on hand and our conservation efforts are in line with CDC recommendations. These are in place to ensure that our use does not exceed our supply currently, or at a later date. Our care teams have been extremely conscious about the appropriate use and conservation of PPE, and are working under current CDC guidelines for PPE use. We continue to work with New York State and the federal government, and they have provided additional PPE and medical equipment to address the number of patients we are caring for with COVID-19.
As a Network, WMCHealth has been planning for and developing surge capacity options with our hospitals for some time, and in concert with local, state, and federal authorities. We have also been moving materials and equipment across the region, to address the needs of all of our hospitals. We have opened drive-through COVID-19 testing facilities in four counties, providing nearly 10,000 tests to date, in addition to hundreds of tests for patients in our emergency departments and hospitals.
Our telemedicine infrastructure has extended our emergency, critical care and other specialists to WMCHealth hospitals, as well as other hospitals in the region, to provide clinical support and expertise.
These are incredible tasks under the best of circumstances, let alone during a situation that can test our resilience.
I am exceptionally proud of our workforce members for providing the highest level of care to our patients, and stepping up to work in new ways, such as staffing our call centers for testing and workforce support, operating our testing facilities, or assisting with additional efforts to keep our workforce safe. Collectively, we know that the community is grateful for the work that we are doing, the care that is being provided, and the steps that are being taken to protect our workforce and our patients. In turn, we have been inspired by the outpouring of support from the communities we serve.
WMCHealth stands behind you. We pledge to continue our efforts to make sure you have the resources to do your jobs the best you can, and with peace of mind.
Thank you again for all you are doing for your patients, your colleagues and the Hudson Valley communities that we all serve.
Sincerely,
Michael D. Israel
President and CEO
WMCHealth