Important Employee Information and Links

Employee Self-Screening

Employee Self-Screening Form Employee Self-Screening Form

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Coronavirus Announcements for Employees

COVID Employee Resources COVID Employee Resources

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September 9, 2020

Payroll Taxes
On August 28, the IRS issued guidance allowing employers to suspend withholding and paying to the IRS eligible employees’ social security payroll taxes as part of COVID-19 relief. The suspension period runs from September 1 through December 31, 2020, for employees earning less than $4,000 bi-weekly.

Employers who elect to suspend collection of employees’ payroll taxes during this four-month period will have to collect additional amounts from employees’ paychecks between January 1 and April 30, 2021, to repay the tax obligation. New federal legislation would be required to turn this temporary deferral into a long-term forgiveness program that would not need to be repaid.

Employer participation is voluntary. We decided not to participate in this program for several reasons. First and foremost, we were concerned about the financial burden that would be placed on employees when the withholdings would increase in the new year. In addition, administering the program to a workforce of variable wage earners would be extremely complex and there was limited guidance from the federal government on how employees could opt out.

Infrared Thermometer Use
The model of infrared thermometer the Hospital is using is designed to read temperatures on the forehead, not the wrist nor the elbow.

Please note ambient temperature can impact readings. If you get a very low or very high temperature reading, wait a few minutes and try again.

Hospital Employees Working at Long-term Care Facilities
We understand that some of you work in long-term care facilities in addition to your employment with the Hospital. A number of employees have asked about the impact of Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH) testing requirements at these facilities and your work here at Evangelical.

As long as you are asymptomatic and the testing is ordered by the long-term care facility and not our Employee Health Department, you can continue working at Evangelical with no impact. If you become symptomatic, receive a positive test result, or meet other guidelines established by our Employee Health Department, your work status at Evangelical may be impacted.

COVID-19 Childcare Update
We received a good response to our COVID-19 childcare survey. People and Culture is working with individual employees to address specific issues.

We understand there’s still a great deal of uncertainty around the school year and the impact any changes may have on employees.

The Hospital has been working with YMCA and Miller Center leadership on plans to quickly operationalize short-term, full-day childcare/virtual learning support center for school-age children, if local school districts enact hybrid or virtual learning in response to COVID-19 positive cases within specific schools or districts. If this program is activated, communication will be sent out via COVID-19 Insights with details on how to access this childcare option.

Eye Protection Update
PA DOH recently recommended that healthcare workers who experience direct and prolonged contact with COVID-19 patients in areas of moderate to substantial community transmission should utilize eye protection. PA DOH defines direct and prolonged exposure as lasting more than 15 minutes, less than six feet away.

The Hospital remains committed to ensuring all providers and employees have the personal protective equipment they need to perform their duties in the safest possible manner.

Employees who meet the PA DOH guidelines and currently wear glasses should wear face shields. In some areas, plexiglass has been installed and will meet the PA DOH recommendations for safe patient encounters.

Employees will receive eye protection devices through their department leadership when it is available. After this initial distribution, replacement eye protection should be ordered through your department leadership.

Any employee who elects to wear eye protection should practice the following:
Use hand hygiene before and after removing the eye protection.
Do not change eye protection when moving from room to room.
Eye protection should be cleaned once a day and as needed with a disinfectant wipe.
Eye protection can and should be re-used each day.

Kendra Aucker,
President and CEO

September 2, 2020

Visitor Restrictions Still in Place
It’s important to understand the restrictions we currently have on visitors at all of our facilities play a critical role in our overall COVID-19 response. Limiting the number of people accessing the Hospital and all of our clinical locations helps reduce the likelihood that an asymptomatic, COVID-19 positive person can transmit the virus to someone else in one of our facilities.

There have been numerous instances in which a referring practice, a provider, or an employee has promised a patient an exception to our visitor restrictions. Please familiarize yourself with our visitation restrictions and do not promise patients an exception to our rules. This puts the staff members at the screening station in a very difficult position and it creates frustration for the patient when the exception is not granted.

Any exception to the visitation policy is a decision that must be made by the administrator on call for the 24 period.

For clarity, our current visitation policy is listed here:

Adult Inpatients

All non-COVID-19 inpatients will be permitted two designated support persons during their stay in the Hospital.
The two designated support persons can only visit the patient one at a time. The support person not visiting with the patient must remain in the Donehower-Eisenhauer Lobby or outside the facility.
All support persons must be screened daily.
No visitors under the age of 18 will be permitted.
No visitors will be permitted for inpatients who are diagnosed with or suspected of having COVID-19.
Clergy members are permitted to visit with a patient. The clergy member will not take the place of the patient’s two designated visitors. However, when the clergy member visits with the patient, the patient’s two designated visitors must exit the facility. Clergy members will be limited to visiting the requesting patient and are not permitted to round on other patients.
Nursing Home admission liaisons are permitted to visit patients to help facilitate moving patients, who are medically ready to leave the Hospital, into those facilities.

Emergency Department

One designated, on-site support person may accompany the patient.
Support person must remain in the patient’s room.
No visitors for patients who are suspected or confirmed as having COVID-19.
No visitors for patients presenting through the D door (decontamination room), until cleared from airborne precautions.
Potential visitors will have to remain in their cars until cleared to come in.
For patients under the age of 18: one dedicated caregiver for the entire stay.
Exceptions to the Emergency Department visitor restrictions may be made for patients who are nearing the end of life.

End-of-life Situations

Two visitors at a time for a non-COVID patient.
If more than two visitors wish to see the patient, the other visitors must wait outside in their vehicle or designated area and enter and exit the facility two at a time.
Visitors must remain in the patient’s room unless asked to step outside by a care provider or staff member.

The Family Place (Laboring Mother)

One designated support person for the duration of the Hospital stay.
Doulas are permitted to visit laboring mothers.

Outpatient testing/appointments (Lab, Imaging, PT, Physician and Clinic Practices)

One support person may accompany the patient.
Support person may be asked to wait in their vehicle or designated area, if physical distancing cannot be achieved in waiting or care areas.
Children under the 18 are not permitted in the clinic or facility, unless the minor is the patient.

Outpatient Surgeries/Procedures (includes Ambulatory Surgical Center, Endoscopy Center, One-Day Surgery)

One designated support person may accompany patient.
Support person may be asked to wait in their vehicle or designated area, if physical distancing cannot be achieved in waiting or care areas.

Pediatric Inpatients

Up to two designated support people for the duration of the Hospital stay.
Support person(s) must remain in the patient’s room as much as possible.

POB Entrances Opening
Beginning at 7 am Tuesday, September 8, 2020, all entrances to the Professional Office Building will open to patients and visitors. Parking on the north side of the building will reopen at the same time.

The entrances will be open from 7 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. Patients arriving for appointments prior to 7 am, after 5 pm, or on weekends will be directed to the Donehower-Eisenhauer Pavilion for screening and access to the POB practices.

Between 7 am and 5 pm Monday through Friday, screening requirements will be handled by the practices in the building. Screening for patients moving from the POB to the Hospital for services will be administered at a table near the entrance to Imaging Services Registration.

The following restrictions remain in place for POB patients and visitors:

Anyone entering the facility is required to wear a mask.
Each patient is allowed one designated visitor to accompany them to their appointment.
Children under the 18 are not permitted in the facility, unless the minor is the patient.

All employees based at the Hospital should continue to report for work through the Rooke Pavilion.

Business Travel Restrictions Continue
To protect employees, patients, and our community members from the possibility of contracting COVID-19, all non-essential travel to professional conferences and meetings will be suspended through February 1, 2021.

The decision to restrict non-essential business-related travel impacts many areas, from national conferences and professional meetings to Continuing Education (CE) and Continuing Medical Education (CME).

We ask that you please cancel any upcoming conferences, professional meetings, and CE that requires travel outside a 125-mile radius of Lewisburg. Additional guidance on canceling reservations is provided in the Infection Control Guidelines 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Policy Manager.

For EMSO physicians and advanced practitioners, we will continue to allow all CME days to be home CME days. All CME requests that involve travel outside a 125-mile radius of Lewisburg will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the Vice President, Physician and Clinic Practices.

If you are attending an event or professional meeting within 125 miles of Lewisburg, traveling by car, use your discretion in determining attendance. Remember the goal is to limit exposure through large group interactions. Please discuss with your supervisor.

All internally hosted group meetings that feature attendees from outside the organization should be canceled or held via conference call, unless otherwise approved by your vice president.

These guidelines are effective immediately and apply through February 1, 2021. We ask that all employees defer future registrations, travel arrangements, and accommodations for all non-essential business-related travel until further notice.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to update its travel guidance frequently, and we will continue to monitor and follow the CDC guidance and make you aware of additional travel restrictions or changes.

Kendra Aucker,
President and CEO

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