Five Questions
Good morning!
I hope you were able to spend time with friends and/or family during the long Memorial Day weekend and have the chance to reflect on the reason we recognize that day. It’s nice to have a special day to remind us, but all the time we should honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
It was great to host three in-person graduation ceremonies last week. But I much prefer one ceremony where we can honor the entire graduating class together and have faculty in attendance. I’m looking forward to getting back to that next year.
All this week, I’ve seen proof that the wheels of health sciences education are always turning. Even though commencement was only a few days ago, new students are already here doing new student things. On Tuesday morning, I saw an excited group in matching blue scrubs taking pictures of themselves in front of the SHRP building. I love to see that kind of enthusiasm. Welcome and good luck to first-year students who may be reading my weekly column for the first time.
Normally, I respond to some of the questions and comments you send me through the VC Notes inbox on the last Friday of the month. I decided to push that to today so I could share my thoughts leading into a graduation season like no other. If you missed it, you can read that column here. Just as a reminder, I read all of your questions and comments and enjoy hearing from you. I’m not able to respond to them all in this space, but I pass the rest along to senior administrators for their review and possible action.
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Q: What is the policy for clocking in and then not going to your work area right away? I work off campus and at a clinic and routinely see employees pulling up entrance, clocking in at the time clock, and then getting back in their cars and driving off.
A: I must say, I don’t think there even needs to be a policy reference to say activity of this type is not allowed. Non-exempt employees – those paid at an hourly rate and eligible to receive overtime – must record their work time in Kronos. The key phrase there is “work time.” It is essential and in accordance with the Faculty and Staff Handbook that non-exempt employees accurately log the time they are working and make sure to log out when taking care of personal business. Clocking in and then going to park your car, get breakfast or run any other non-work-related errand is prohibited – and this applies to all non-exempt UMMC employees, regardless of work location. Breaking or bending this rule could be grounds for disciplinary action. So, if you are witnessing this type of thing, know that it is being done outside of the boundaries of what is allowed. Hopefully, managers will be watching out for it and will consult with an employee who may be misusing the time-keeping system.
On the flip side, it’s unlawful for non-exempt employees to be asked to adjust when they clock in or out so that they do not eclipse 40 hours worked in a single week, which would provide overtime pay for each hour worked above 40. If you are a non-exempt employee and you have questions about time-keeping, please consult with your supervisor. If you’re not able to get the information you need or aren’t satisfied with your supervisor’s response, please reach out to the HR Business Partner for your area.
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Q: We arrived to work at Lakeland Medical Building today to find that there is no water in the building. For the entire week after the February ice storm, there was no running water in our building. This is becoming too frequent a problem! We are in the midst of a pandemic and we have no running water to wash our hands. I know our administrative teams are doing all they can to order portable toilets and bottled water when this happens, but these are poor working conditions and not fair to the patients we serve. Is there anything that can be done as a permanent solution to the continued water issues at LMB?
A: It’s been a tough year for issues related to the city’s water quality and pressure. We provide care to a lot of patients daily in Lakeland Medical Building-based clinics representing several UMMC departments. Having working water systems, including bathrooms, is essential. We’ve moved this issue up the priority list and are actively working to develop and implement a solution. Taking advantage of the LMB’s close proximity to the main campus, we are working with an engineering firm on a plan to connect that location to UMMC’s well system – thus taking LMB off city water. This will be no easy task, but St. Dominic’s completed a similar project recently, so there’s proof of concept. We will be working with the City of Jackson for all the necessary approvals and on the plan to bore and run pipes under Lakeland Drive. Our plan is that it can be completed this year – before the next freezing weather season!
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Q: What happened to the phone book that was on the Intranet for employees? It was so convenient to look up by first name, last name, department.
A: While the “Yellow Pages” is no longer an option, when we activated an updated Intranet website in fall 2019, the search function available at the top of the page became a much more powerful option. When you visit the Intranet, you can use the search bar at the top right of the page to search by name, department, phone number, keywords and other topics. If you search for a name or department, the results page will list all personnel that match your search and also any other links to Intranet pages with content related to your search. More direct to your question, if you just want to search the UMMC employee listings, you would use https://intranet.umc.edu/directory/
Not only does this solution provide more functionality than the prior option, it’s automatically updated, whereas the Yellow Pages was a manually updated system.
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Q: I’d like to know what the approach should be when a non-English speaking patient/family is in need of assistance. Especially with the opening of Sanderson, patients/families easily get lost. Would there be any ability to provide permanent translation systems on the entry level floors or around elevators?
A: Our Office of Patient Experience tells me that we do have interpretive devices for non-English-speaking patients, families and visitors located in areas of Sanderson Tower where they can be most useful, like in the ground floor lobby. However, these were purchased specifically for this new building, and at this time aren’t at other entrances or areas where people may benefit from them. This is an opportunity for us and would be a good step to improve wayfinding and general customer relations. The interpretive device is essentially a tablet, like an iPad, mounted on a stand and connected virtually to our interpreter services. Most languages are available through this service. OPE and our hospital administrators are looking at how to make more of these devices available in additional locations.
On a related note, we have interpreters and a Choctaw liaison from Language Services available in person from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. for our hospitals and at the Medical Mall. If you are in a situation any time of day or night where an interpreter, including American Sign Language, is required, call OPE at 5-4545 and they can provide the phone number for the type of service needed. Language Services are also available to all clinicians and patient care liaisons. A document with phone numbers for Language Services is found here.
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Q: I noticed that the visitor policy has been updated for the hospital, but not the ambulatory clinics. I work in an off-campus clinic and we have to get the person that has come with the patient - most of the time, it is a spouse - to wait in the car. When will the clinics be able to return to one adult person to attend the appointment with the patient? Thank you so much for helping in this matter.
A: The visitor guidelines for our adult ambulatory clinics were updated in May and can be found here. The new policy eased some of the previous restrictions, including allowing one visitor/caregiver to accompany adult patients at appointments. Other changes for OB-GYN patients and how pediatric patients seen at adult clinics are handled are included in the new guidelines. These guidelines, and those for our adult hospital areas and the pediatric-care facilities, which were updated just this week, are in line with CDC and State Department of Health recommendations and are very similar to other health care organizations.
Before I end today’s column, I want to share how great it is to see the downward trend in COVID-19-related patients in our hospitals. Only one daily report this week showed a patient count above 20. That is encouraging and certainly worth excitement. (Knock on wood.) However, lowering case counts statewide and among our patient population shouldn’t be cause to disregard how vital it is that you – if you haven’t already – get vaccinated. To more quickly and effectively lessen concerns of a potential rebound, a higher percentage of vaccinated Mississippians is needed. Please, get a vaccine and encourage your family and friends to do the same. If we want a Healthier Mississippi, this is our shot.