June 14 - Daily Update

Daily Update newsletter moving to weekly schedule

The Daily Update newsletter to physicians, which has been hitting email boxes each weekday for the past several months, is transitioning back to a weekly communication. The Beaumont Physician Partners weekly email you received pre-COVID-19, and when rates were at their lowest, will return later this week with the most relevant content for physicians. Watch for this bulletin sent from BeaumontPhysicianPartners@beaumont.org.

Please note: For urgent messages, we will continue to send standalone communications throughout the week, as needed, from the Physician.Communications@beaumont.org email box. We will return to a daily cadence if circumstances with COVID-19 change.

Beaumont hits new low for COVID-19 cases

Earlier today we hit an all-time low with fewer than 70 cases of COVID-19 across the system! This is the lowest number of COVID-19 patients since the first week of the pandemic in March 2020.

“This is momentous, inspiring occasion and a testament to all the hard work and dedication of Beaumont team members,” John Fox, president and chief executive officer, said. “Since March 2020, you have waged a battle against this relentless disease with single-minded commitment and professionalism. I cannot thank you enough for everything you did throughout the pandemic. It is my honor to work with the best health care team in the state.”

While the numbers are reason to celebrate, we continue to emphasize the importance of vaccination, masking in the appropriate circumstances and social distancing. Last week, Beaumont updated mask-wearing guidelines for team members. The updates are based on potential for patient contact, location and vaccination status.

Beaumont is currently vaccinating anyone aged 12 and older at our vaccination clinics. Unvaccinated team members are highly encouraged to schedule an appointment as soon as possible to get vaccinated to protect themselves and to ensure a safe and healthy work environment for co-workers, patients and family members.

Regardless of vaccination status, team members must wear a mask in all common areas where there is any potential presence of patients or visitors. These areas include, but are not limited to, all public/common areas of acute care campuses such as elevators, hallways, nursing stations and food service areas such as Starbucks and the cafeterias. 

“Together, we reached this point where we actually see the light at the end of the tunnel that we’ve been working toward for months,” John said. “Please continue to do the right thing to keep this pandemic on the decline.”

Unusual paycheck

With the launch of BExtraordinary, our recognition and rewards program, all full-time, part-time and contingent employees received a Debut award (generously funded by the Beaumont Health Foundation) as a gift to kick off the program. You will see a paycheck stub dated June 15 that shows zero take home pay and a gross amount to cover the taxes on the award.

Beaumont made the decision to cover the taxes on all BExtraordinary awards. FAQs have been created to help you understand the tax process. Below is an example from the FAQs of how points appear on your paycheck.

Example of how points appear on your paycheck.

You will see the value of the approved points on your paycheck on the pay period after the points are issued. Points are taxed when issued, not upon redemption.

For example: Mary was nominated for an award on June 6. Her manager approved the award on June 7. Mary logs into BExtraordinary and sees the award points in her bank on June 7, 2021. The award valued at $25 will appear on her next paycheck, June 18, 2021. Mary redeems her points in the BExtraordinary store for a gift card on July 1, 2021.

She will see: