Vaccinations, Unplugging and Other Topics

Good morning!

Today I’d like to cover several topics that in recent days have impacted the Medical Center. I’m betting every one of you will relate to one or more of them. Let me also take this time to thank you for your vigilance, now and going forward, on wearing masks, social distancing and hand hygiene. At work this is required, but I hope you continue making safe decisions for yourself and your family in your personal lives. In doing so, you could be saving a life – including your own.

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Even though we’ve had temperatures in the 70s a few times since Valentine’s Day, the historic national winter storm that hit Mississippi hard last month is still on our minds, thanks to havoc it wreaked on water pipes in Jackson and elsewhere.

On the main campus, we have wells that supply our water. UMMC clinics served by the city’s water system, including our clinic space on Lakeland Drive, the Medical Towers Building on Woodrow Wilson Avenue, The CAY Center on Old Canton Road and our specialty pediatric clinic near Veterans Memorial Stadium and others all lost water pressure. It is nearly impossible to operate clinics without running water. I know the teams most impacted are struggling mightily. I am so sorry. We are working hard to do all we can to mitigate the current situation and to plan for future, more permanent, solutions.

But front-end preparations by Michael Switzer, executive director of Facilities Services, and his team made a huge difference. Anticipating a water outage that could last for days or weeks, Facilities brought in “toilet trailers” well before the brunt of the storm came through, placing them in the locations anticipated to lose pressure – and did. Talk about a hot commodity nationwide! If we’d waited just a day or more to secure and place these porta-johns, there might have been none available.

Another huge challenge was how the weather affected HVAC heating and cooling systems that aren’t designed for below-freezing temperatures spanning 100 hours or more. Some of the system’s coils froze, making it more of a challenge to heat the hospitals and clinic areas. Then, when temperatures shot up into the 70s and the campus needed cooling, not heating, adjustments had to be made in cooling towers and the campus chiller plant.

There were plenty of lessons learned – for example, using blue salt instead of the usual translucent supply is better when salting so much square footage, because you can more easily tell where you have or haven’t salted.

While we are still in a precarious predicament, the Facilities team has been burning the midnight oil to keep the campus warm – or cool! – and to do all in their power to minimize slipping and sliding on ice that lingered for the better part of a week. Debrief meetings have already taken place to discuss how we can be even more prepared for the eventual next weather emergency.

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This month, Dr. Alan Jones’ title shifted from assistant vice chancellor for clinical affairs to associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs. It’s an important distinction, one in keeping with the evolution of our Health System during the last couple of years.

The discontinuation of the Health System chief executive officer position last year, combined with the unique qualifications and experience that Dr. Jones brings to the table, presented the opportunity for a dynamic leadership role. Dr. Jones’ previous service as chair of Emergency Medicine, chief operations physician and interim chief telehealth officer, in addition to his outstanding record in research and scholarship, position him to provide strategic and operational leadership for UMMC’s clinical mission area.

Dr. Jones is working with administrative, physician and clinical leaders to oversee the delivery of patient-centered, high-quality care across the organization. He’s charged with achieving efficiency and standardizing clinical and business practices, along with realizing targeted growth and strong financial performance.

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Recent leadership changes in the Office of the Chief Medical Officer are helping set the future direction of hospital-based services at the Medical Center.

We announced last month that Dr. Lisa Didion, professor of pediatrics and associate chief medical officer at Children’s of Mississippi, would become associate chief medical officer for the UMMC Health System and medical director of care coordination. Dr. Peter Arnold, professor and division chief of Plastic Surgery and medical chief of staff, has assumed the role of associate chief medical officer for clinical operations of the Health System. And Dr. Kirk Reid, UMMC medical vice chief of staff, has succeeded Dr. Arnold as medical chief of staff and has assumed a four-year term.

What does this mean for our patients and the Health System as an organization?

Dr. Didion is working even more closely with Dr. Michael Henderson, chief medical officer, to implement the next phase of quality, safety and experience along with the new strategic priority of creating value from the CMO’s Office. She will ease out of her Children’s of Mississippi role during the next few months.

As medical director of care coordination, Dr. Didion will do the heavy lifting on improving care coordination for all Medical Center patient populations. Her work with physician, nursing and administrative stakeholders to promote efficient and cost-effective usage of hospital services will require close collaboration with the CMO, the Chief Revenue Cycle Officer, hospital CEOs and the chief medical information officer.

Dr. Arnold’s new role replaces the chief operations physician. Look for him to provide the critical function of increasing physician leadership in the clinical operations of all of UMMC’s Jackson-area hospitals, including the issues related to hospital capacity and patient flow.

He has the leadership experience, reputation and demeanor to move the needle on operational efficiency and nurture relationships between physicians and the administrative team. That will make our hospital-based services, from critical care to the Office of Patient Experience, all the better.

Dr. Reid will fulfill the traditional responsibilities of the hospital chief of staff, which includes chairing the Medical Executive Committee; overseeing medical staff office affairs, such as privileging and credentialing in collaboration with Amanda Roberson; and addressing medical staff concerns.

This role has now changed to a four-year appointment, and a vice chief of staff will be appointed shortly as part of longer-term succession planning.

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As of Feb. 28, 5,139 UMMC employees and students had been immunized against COVID-19 through the clinic operating at our Batson Tower lobby. As was announced in a memo yesterday, an employee and student COVID-19 Vaccine Blitz will kick off next week and appointments are now available. And now, ALL students are eligible to receive the vaccinations. Vaccines will be given beginning Monday for as long as supplies last, and second-dose appointments will be available in MyChart. If you have not yet received your vaccination, now is the time to do it!

Employees and students can sign up here to receive their vaccines next week. Remember, appointments are required, and walk-ups are not permitted. It’s our hope that by the end of next week, any employee or student who wants the vaccine will have received it.

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March 4 is the one-year anniversary of the first campus-wide memo that referenced COVID-19. Many, many memos followed in this wild ride we’ve been on, and there will be more to come. As I’ve said before, I couldn’t be more proud of how each of you have stepped up to address maybe the most profound health crisis in our lifetime – so far.

There’s something else noteworthy about today: it’s National Day of Unplugging. Today and for the rest of the weekend, many will be setting aside their phones, email and even social media. The Medical Center is a 24-hour operation, and some of us must be on top of our email and other communications as part of our jobs, but when you can, I encourage you to unplug. You’ve earned it!

Thank you for giving the best care and best experience possible to our patients, our students and to each other as we continue the work of creating A Healthier Mississippi.