Questions, Answers and Updates

Good morning.

Right off the top, today, I want to again express my appreciation to all parties involved with putting on the Sanderson Farms Championship golf tournament each year and making the $1.5 million gift to Friends of Children’s Hospital announced earlier this week possible. Century Club Charities, the event’s host, (in my book, at least) runs the best tournament on the PGA TOUR and is certainly an ardent champion for Mississippi’s kids. With Century Club, Sanderson Farms, Friends and Joe and Kathy Sanderson, UMMC is lucky to have such dedicated advocates and supporters for the pediatric care we provide statewide. To all involved, thank you!

It’s the end of a month, when I’d typically get to some of the questions you’ve sent me, but before I respond to those, I’m happy to give a couple of updates on items that I’ve covered previously in this column.

In my Dec. 3, 2021 VC Notes, I responded to a question from an employee who witnessed one of our older patients and his spouse having a hard time getting from Garage A to their appointment. The topic of the shuttle carts that were running from the garages to hospital entrances pre-pandemic came up. Well, I’m happy to report that our shuttle/bus vendor, Groome Transportation, this week resumed the golf cart shuttles ferrying people to and from Garages A and B. This is a very helpful service to many of our patients and visitors, and I’m glad the carts are back. The two routes, which are set at this time according to the publicly accessible entrances, can be found here. Groome drivers will frequently clean and sanitize the carts for safety just as they do on the larger shuttle busses.

Another update is on a topic that I discussed in the July 2, 2021 VC Notes. Some of our clinical groups wondered why they were not included among the many wall clings on display during Patient Safety Week showcasing clinical quality accolades. I shared that there was no intent to exclude any groups, but that this effort to publicly “high five” the efforts of clinical units/departments to improve patient safety measures was still new and working out some kinks. This year, so that any group that wants to be included can be, an online form is now available to submit information to be considered for one of the wall clings that will again be on display during this year’s Patient Safety Week activities. Clinical units and/or groups that want to can enter their submissions for consideration here. The deadline to submit items is Friday, Feb. 18, 2022. Thanks to the organizers of this recognition program for taking this step so more of our deserving areas can be recognized.

Now on to some of the questions you’ve submitted to me through the VC Notes Inbox. Just as a reminder, I read all of your questions and comments and enjoy hearing from you. I’m only able to respond to some of them in this space, but I pass the rest along to senior administrators for their review and possible follow up. 

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Q:  I want to get a COVID-19 booster shot but can’t ever find availability through Student Employee Health. Why are there never any appointments open?

A:  When booster doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine became available and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended them, the UMMC Student and Employee Health Clinic relied on a group of federal contract workers – activated through a state of emergency declaration - to staff the vaccine clinic and other areas where shots were being distributed. The agreement for those contract workers has ended, which necessitated a significant decrease in the number of slots for employees and students to schedule a booster dose. It is unfortunate, but there was just not enough staffing with all of the testing, vaccinations, compliance monitoring and normal responsibilities SEH manages daily. Our employees cannot provide the same amount of booster shots – about 1,000 – as the contract workers did while here.

Current information about who is eligible to get a booster shot and where and how they are available internally can be found here. In a nutshell, during this time where there’s high demand for COVID-19 testing, SEH staffing can only support limited availability of time slots for employees and students to get a booster dose. It’s strongly suggested that you consider the many options in your community. Just about every private pharmacy or medical clinic has several appointments available daily for vaccine shots and usually includes front-door parking. Getting boosted against COVID-19 is vitally important to keep your immunity at its highest level. We wish we could make it super easy to just walk down and get it, but operationally that’s just not possible.

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Q:  We have noticed campus police has been pulled from the Pavilion. This is a cause for concern. The daily volume of patients that circulate through the Pavilion is immense. Our department has experienced several confrontations and threats from patients where security had to intervene, with one of these occurrences happening last week. Security stationed in the Pavilion has given staff a piece of mind. Can this please be addressed?

A: When visitor restrictions were put in place to limit the number of people in UMMC facilities to curb viral spread at the start of the pandemic, it was decided an officer from the UMMC Police and Public Safety Department stationed at the Pavilion would be prudent. This wasn’t a previously budgeted position but was added to help limit access to the building. Our visitor policies have changed over the past several months, and it was determined that an officer was no longer needed. 

However, as is the case each year, UMMC Police will evaluate all UMMC-controlled areas and buildings for security risks and establish a plan – and budget – to address areas of concern. This position will be included in that review.

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Q:  There is an apparent pay disparity between the housekeeping staff in the hospital and research buildings (e.g. Translational Research Center). I believe the housekeeping staff in the research buildings are employed by a contracted company but is there anything UMMC can do to demand fairness among the housekeeping staff?

Q:  I was speaking with the custodian in our area this morning, and the subject of immunizations came up. He mentioned that as contractors, they were not able to get a free flu shot here like UMMC employees. The contract company provided a location for them to get shots across town, and he was required to pay for the shot. I'm not sure of all the details, but I wanted to ask if there was something UMMC could do to help with our largest contracts (cleaning services and food service come to mind first)?

A: I grouped these two questions together because they both related to HHS, the contract vendor that supplies and manages the housekeeping staff for all of UMMC. Our relationship with HHS is only 9 months old and several changes have been put in place from how things were managed by the previous vendors.

Before we contracted with HHS, environmental services employees came from two different vendors. One vendor was for the clinical areas and another handled non-clinical areas. During this two-vendor period, there may have been pay discrepancies between EVS employees depending on which vendor was their employer. When HHS took over the contract to manage cleanliness in all UMMC areas, employees that transitioned to HHS from the previous vendors retained their pay rate. However, as of Jan. 2 , all HHS employees at UMMC were raised to the same level, regardless of where each employee is stationed.

As for the flu shot, HHS employees who work in a UMMC facility are required to be compliant with our flu vaccination policy. Compliance of that policy is handled by their employer, HHS. They are instructed on where they should go to receive their flu shot, but the cost does not come out of their pocket. The clinic administering flu vaccinations – or any other vaccinations required of people who regularly work in our buildings – to HHS employees sends an invoice to HHS to cover the costs. The employees should not pay out of pocket.

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Thanks for these and all of the comments and questions you send in. Keep ‘em coming.

Before I sign off today, I want to make you aware that we are currently negotiating with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi for a new contract affecting patients with a commercial Blue Cross plan. Our current contract ends March 31, 2022 and our hope is that we can agree on a new one before that date.

If not, it is possible that UMMC facilities and providers would be considered out-of-network with Blue Cross. Please note, The Mississippi State and School Employees Health Plan is not a part of these negotiations and not impacted. Blue Cross pays us at rates below most other academic medical centers like us, and it is important that they begin to pay us rates that take into account the unique staff expertise and technology that is available only at UMMC. Our main priority going into these talks with Blue Cross is our patients. They are top of mind. We hope that Blue Cross will come to the table intent on partnering with us on the essential, and sometimes life-saving, services we provide. It’s important that UMMC, Mississippi’s academic medical center, largest safety net hospital and sole provider of several critical programs, be healthy and growing. Our health is a vital component of creating A Healthier Mississippi.