April 19 - COVID-19 Daily Update

Food trucks coming to your campus soon

To thank and recognize all the hard work you’re doing through this third COVID-19 surge, free meals will be available at all Beaumont acute care campuses on a scheduled basis.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 20, team members at Beaumont Hospital, Dearborn can enjoy Wahlburgers Food Truck and Chicken Shack Food Truck noshes from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

On Wednesday, April 21, the Chicken Shack Food Truck will be at Beaumont, Trenton from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Additionally, Beaumont, Grosse Pointe will receive a visit from Encore Catering at 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Famous Dave’s will deliver lunch to Beaumont, Taylor on Wednesday, April 21, at 11 a.m.

Watch for more information about when food trucks and deliveries will be happening at the other acute care campuses.

Thousands of vaccine appointments are now available

More than 5,000 appointments are available this week at the BSC, Dearborn and Troy vaccine clinics. If you or your family members have not been vaccinated, please do so as soon as possible so we can end this current surge and provide some relief to all the health care heroes who have been working so hard to care for patients.

All employees’ family members (age 16 and up) who are not vaccinated should call Beaumont’s scheduling line at 1-800-592-4784 for a vaccine appointment at any of our three clinics. The Scheduling Line is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday – Friday.

You also can have your family members with an active myBeaumontChart sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine through Beaumont’s Save My Shot program at beaumont.org/covid-vaccine.

Spread the word to all your family members that the COVID-19 vaccine is available through Beaumont. Be sure to let your friends and neighbors know as well.

As a reminder, there is a separate scheduling process for employees. If you have not received the vaccine and are interested, please follow the employee scheduling link: secure.beaumont.org/covidvaccineappointment.

Beaumont Health CEO John Fox appears on CNN with Pamela Brown

Beaumont CEO John Fox appeared on CNN to explain the COVID-19 surge being seen in Michigan and at Beaumont acute care campuses.

Watch now

Carolyn Wilson on Channel 4 WDIV’s Flashpoint yesterday

Carolyn Wilson, RN, chief operating officer, Beaumont Health, was interviewed yesterday on Flashpoint with Devin Scillian to discuss the latest COVID-19 surge at Beaumont. Use Google Chrome for best viewing experience.

Watch now

Celebrating our volunteers: 'They wanted to be in our hospitals when patients and staff needed them most'

Giving, dedicated and loyal are just a few words that describe the thousands of volunteers that give their time to Beaumont Health. This week, we celebrate and thank the volunteers who make Beaumont Health a better place.

Before the pandemic struck, volunteers were everywhere throughout the organization — entrances, registration desks, waiting rooms, on units and behind the scenes. It’s their caring that makes waiting easier, finding rooms less stressful and even puts music in the air.

“I am so proud of our volunteers over the last year,” said Nancy Carlisi, senior director, Volunteer Services. “When we had to send our volunteers home because of the Stay-at-Home order, it broke their hearts. They wanted to be in our hospitals when the patients and staff needed them most. In true volunteer fashion, many of them didn’t give up and made an impact from a safe distance.”

They made daily calls to patients who couldn’t have visitors; they made signs and cards to encourage staff; Pet Therapy teams came to the campuses to stand outside and wave to staff; they planted flowers; they provided snacks, meals and donations for staff, and even did a meal for the residents’ graduation. 

In addition, knowing that volunteering was an important aspect of staying connected and social, the volunteers banded together and created a phone program to call each other and check in regularly.

In May, Beaumont Health was the first health system in Michigan to return volunteers to hospitals and off-site locations. With expertise from Epidemiology, Risk Management, Government Affairs, Employee Health Services, Legal and HR leadership, volunteers received a packet with information to help them make an informed decision on whether they would feel safe in returning. The volunteer team identified areas needing volunteer support and worked with the hospital site leadership and department managers to revise service descriptions and training checklists. They then recreated roles, re-educated volunteers and retrained returning volunteers with new safety protocols.

“We’re happy to report that 25% of the volunteers returned to provide support — more than any other health system,” said Nancy.

Carolyn Wilson, RN, chief operating officer, Beaumont Health, was touched by the return of so many volunteers.

“I know it was difficult on our volunteers not to do what they love,” Carolyn said. “But to hear how they adapted to help in any way they could truly shines a light on the spirit of a volunteer and speaks to their dedication. We are incredibly fortunate to have so many caring hearts willing to give of their time and talents.”

To quote Mister Rogers, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” Thankfully, these helpers can be seen every day at our hospitals.

CNO Update: Introducing Beaumont Flex

As part of Beaumont Health’s long-term plan to enhance staffing across the system, I’m excited to share that we are planning in the near future to launch a new, innovative systemwide internal nurse staffing resource pool called Beaumont Flex. The timing of the launch depends on a variety of factors, including the current COVID-19 surge.

Some of you may recall the work to develop a new staffing model across Beaumont began in 2019 when the Nurse Staffing Taskforce was created. This Taskforce was led by bedside nurses with support from nursing leaders and departments such as IT and Talent Acquisition.

Beaumont Flex is an additional support program to help with daily and long-term staffing needs systemwide. This program is intended to improve the nursing staffing experience by offering several work options for nurses. The new pool will be open to existing and new Beaumont nurses who are interested in working at multiple Beaumont acute care campuses.

Beaumont Flex will not replace any hospital or unit-based float pools, but instead it will augment and support our existing hospital-based pools.   

Learn more about Beaumont Flex and our plans to launch this resource pool by reading the frequently asked questions and attend a live 15 to 20 minute webinar on:

• Tuesday, April 20, 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m.
• Wednesday, April 21, 11 a.m.
• Thursday, April 22, 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m.

 Click on this webinar link a few minutes before the time listed.

Webinar ID: 983 5620 7791

Passcode: 692852

If you know someone who may be interested in learning more about Beaumont Flex, please direct them to careers.beaumont.org/flex

I look forward to keeping you informed of our plans to launch this program soon to help bolster our staffing across the system. Thank you for your continued commitment and compassion, and all you do for our patients, their families and each other.

With great respect and gratitude,