HJNO May/Jun 2020

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS I  MAY / JUN 2020 63 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalNO.com usefulness long after the coronavirus crisis passes. “Even though we’re using these for our isolation rooms, they’re still going to be used in our regu- lar discharge rooms,” Synakiewicz said. “It’s not going to be just for isolation. We want to ensure that our hospital is the safest hospital in the par- ish and the region and the state for our patients and our guests that come in – and for our staff.” Ochsner Anywhere Care Sees Nearly 1000 Percent Increase in Virtual Visits inMarch 2020 Ochsner Health’s telemedicine platform, Och- sner Anywhere Care, is seeing record numbers of enrollments and visits since the COVID-19 out- break in Louisiana. Patients are able to see a pro- vider on-demand, receive assessment and appro- priate treatment, and all from the comfort and safety of home. In March of 2020, urgent care on-demand and behavioral health scheduled appointments increased 852 percent in enrollments and 933 per- cent in virtual visits over February of 2020. The trend is continuing in April, with daily virtual vis- its growing significantly. Key highlights include: • March 2020 Ochsner Anywhere Care enroll- ments: 10,084 (February 2020: 1,059) • March 2020 Ochsner Anywhere Care virtual visits: 3,616 (February 2020: 350) on actually ordering it all until construction on the hospital’s new four-story patient tower was com- pleted as planned in late 2020. But COVID-19 had different plans, according to foundation specialist Doug Walker. “When this COVID-19 outbreak happened, administration thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and put a rush on that,” Walker said. “Because of the outstanding generosity of our donors we’ve been blessed to have, we had this money ready to go.” The robots were delivered Friday (April 3), three weeks to the day after the hospital reported its first positive COVID-19 patient. They were imme- diately put to use. As part of a sort-of shakedown cruise, Synakie- wicz and his team used them to disinfect various offices and restrooms in the hospital’s main Cov- ington campus, as well as in patient rooms. Each time, swabs taken after the Lytbot was done showed a marked improvement in the hos- pital’s already high cleaning standards. “That’s a good number,” Synakiewicz said while examining the results of a swab test as they appeared on a handheld device. “That’s a really good number.” That makes The Twins great in the COVID- 19 fight. But they, and two additional units that are still on the way, are expected to prove their scheme. It’s only once one of them is rolled into place in a patient room – and after Environmental Ser- vices housekeepers are done scrubbing the room using traditional chemical cleaners -- that the magic happens. First the room is cleared of people, then the Lytbot’s cleaning cycle is activated via remote control from outside the room. At that point, the robot’s head flips open to reveal a high-power ultraviolet light disinfecting unit, which rotates 360 degrees while emitting pulses of germ-kill- ing UV light. The cycle lasts for only five minutes, at which point the Lytbot is repositioned, mattresses are flipped, the food-service table is opened and other, similar adjustments are made in the room before another five-minute cycle is initiated. A shorter, three-minute cycle targets the bath- room as well. “They kill up to 99 percent of harmful bacteria without chemicals or mercury,” Synakiewicz said. “It’s a great addition to our process of cleaning.” Synakiewicz and the rest of the health system can thank the St. Tammany Hospital Foundation for The Twins. They’re the ones who raised money for the robots, along with another quarter of a mil- lion dollars’ worth of tech gear. The only catch was that they weren’t planning STHS Environmental Services Director David Synakiewicz shows off one of their Solaris Lytbot, a high-power ultraviolet light disinfecting unit, which rotates 360 degrees while emitting pulses of germ- killing UV light.