Dear Team,

Happy holidays! I hope many of you are able to be with your family and friends this holiday season. I also hope you will be able to take this time to recharge. With the Omicron variant likely coming to the region in the next few weeks, recharging now is vitally important.

On December 20, 2021, I pulled our Incident Command team together and we began planning and taking numerous actions to prepare for an Omicron surge. For planning purposes, we are using late January through March as our timeframe for an Omicron surge in our region. I hope I am wrong about that. Regardless, we will be ready.

We are currently ordering and stockpiling personal protective equipment, numerous testing supplies, recruiting more critical staff, reviewing surge and staffing plans, and taking other actions. We are doing our part to prepare. You can also do your part by getting your COVID-19 booster now. If you have questions on the booster’s safety and efficacy, please speak with your provider.

Help us maintain a healthy workforce this spring by getting your booster now. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention announced that hospitals and health systems can expect up to 1/3 of our workforce to be infected with Omicron and not able to work during its surge. We need to do everything we can to guard against that to keep you and our workforce healthy.

Once again, have a great and safe holiday season!

Dan Winkleman, YKHC President & CEO