Dear Team,
Good afternoon. Now that new COVID-19 cases in Bethel have dropped significantly, all remote work agreements will end no later than Friday, February 25, 2022. Beginning as early as next Tuesday, February 22, 2022, all staff with remote work agreements can come to the office and work full time. All staff with remote work agreements are expected to report to their work areas no later than Friday, February 25, 2022.
Bethel’s new cases for the week of February 10, 2022 are at approximately the same number of new cases as the week after Christmas which was towards the end of our wave of the Delta variant. Remote work accomplished both of our objectives:
- To reduce transmission within our workforce in order to activate a voluntary call list in anticipation of extreme departmental vacancies due to widespread illness or quarantine; and
- Reduce transmission within the community of Bethel.
We activated our call list for approximately three weeks for several hospital departments and Bethel facilities. We had a little less than 100 volunteers who volunteered to work in different positions than their own, sometimes for a few hours, sometimes for several days. This, coupled with additional temporary duty staff from outside of Bethel, allowed YKHC to continue normal operations when we experienced several departments with high vacancies due to COVID-19.
I want to thank each and every volunteer for your service. Your selflessness and service allowed YKHC to continue normal hospital operations and allowed other Bethel facilities to remain open during the height of the Omicron wave for the benefit of our region. You forever have my gratitude. Quyana!
I also want to thank the rest of our entire staff, here in Bethel and all 50 villages, for your tireless efforts during this latest Omicron wave and during all prior waves. Many of you worked extra shifts while your department experienced numerous vacancies. Each of you have made a significant difference and positive impact to our 30,000 customers, their families and communities. Quyana!
Let us not forget. Together, in one of the remotest regions of the United States, we have helped almost 20,000 customers get vaccinated with a safe and effective, life-saving vaccine; educated the region’s 30,000 customers on how to prevent infection; educated how to mitigate the chances of infection; educated how to reduce transmission when either infected or when a village experienced widespread community transmission; administered over 180,000 COVID-19 tests; educated school leaders and communities on how to keep schools, sports and other vital extracurricular activities safe and open; helped to keep businesses safe and open; provided healthcare guidance to approximately 14,000 individuals and families with COVID-19; provided healthcare to 144 inpatients; provided over 130 individuals with in region medevacs; provided 39 individuals with out of region medevacs; provided healthcare to 49 individuals who died from COVID-19 and consoled their families; helped to end COVID-19 waves sooner rather than later, and thereby, helped to keep our health system from becoming overwhelmed in an effort to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and deaths. Quyana!
The pandemic, however, is not yet over. While Bethel’s rates for new cases are decreasing, unfortunately we still have many villages with known widespread community transmission and we will have many more villages with new outbreaks before this Omicron wave subsides across the region. Indeed, Bethel and our region is still classified as high transmission by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, and therefore we will continue with universal masking and other COVID-19 protocols at all YKHC facilities. You can read about those friendly reminders below.
Sincerely,
Dan Winkelman, President & CEO
Reminders for remote workers returning to the office:
- All YKHC employees are required to adhere to current YKHC masking policies that require employees to wear a face mask tightly covering the nose and mouth in the workplace. Direct patient care staff must wear an N95 respirator. Surgical masks are required for all non-direct patient care positions. Cloth masks, gators and bandanas are not acceptable. The full policy can be found on Policy Manager (https://ykhc.ellucid.com/documents/view/35175)
- In-person meetings will be permitted, beginning February 25, 2022. Per our masking policy, masks must be kept on during all meetings.