LVMC Community Update, August 14, 2020

Dear Lompoc Valley Community:

I am hoping that yesterday’s thunder and lightning unleashed its wrath on the Coronavirus. Perhaps it did, as there have been a few positive “one-week trends” (let’s take the good wherever we can find it)!

COVID-19 Statistics and Information

Hospitalized Patients. As of August 13, the number of Covid positive hospitalized patients in the County has decreased by 14.8% from two weeks ago, and 7.4% from a week ago. The official number currently stands at 75, with 26 in ICU, compared to 81, with 25 in ICU a week earlier. From informal, but reliable, information received today, it appears that the number of hospitalized patients has now dropped much further, to the low-to-mid 60’s. This would represent a 28% decrease from two weeks ago. I don’t want to jinx it, but as of this afternoon, LVMC had zero Covid positive hospitalized patients. This is down from a recent high of 6 Covid positive patients.

Age of LVMC Covid Positive Patients. From day one, there have been 27 Covid positive patients hospitalized at LVMC (excluding inmates from the FCC). The median age (half younger and half older) of these patients is 62. The ages range from 31 to 100. Once gathered from all hospitals, the County will be reporting age related information for the entire County of Santa Barbara.

Mortality/Deaths. For the seven-day period ending August 13, there have been 7 new Covid-related deaths reported. Of the seven, 4 were from Santa Maria, 1 from Santa Barbara, 0 from Lompoc, and 2 from other areas. The total number of deaths in the County is 75, including 40 from Santa Maria, 7 from Santa Barbara, and 7 from the Lompoc Valley.

Positivity Rate. Consistent with what I had previously mentioned, I have been informed that the positivity rates reported by the State are not reliable (not for lack of best efforts). However, the State’s figures are still meaningful because those are the figures which, in part, determine whether or not Santa Barbara County remains on the State’s Monitoring List. Over the past five days, the reported positivity rate for Santa Barbara County dropped significantly, from approximately 10.5% to an average of 6.36% over the five-day period. Two of the four major labs performing Covid testing for Santa Barbara County residents are reporting positivity rates below 5%. The positivity rates for the other two labs are not known. These figures tend to bounce around a lot, but hopefully this five-day “mini-trend” will turn into a full-blown trend.

LVMC’s Comprehensive Care Center (CCC). The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) performs “COVID-19 Mitigation Surveys” at all skilled nursing facilities, to determine if the policies, procedures and practices the facilities have implemented are appropriate and effective. The CCC had its survey on August 12, and I am pleased to report that CDPH did not note any findings/deficiencies. There are no Covid positive residents at the CCC.

Donations

A huge thank you to the following businesses and individuals who have made donations of Personal Protective Equipment and supplies, food for our healthcare workers, and other acts of kindness. You are all very much appreciated!! (The ones in bold are new since the last update) Edward Maschke; Direct Relief; Albertson’s Store #3171--and those individuals who participated with Albertson’s; Northrop Grumman; Southwest Carpenters Union; INTO THE AM CLOTHING LLC-Matt Marchione; Kathy Milham; Kimberly Todd; Vons Market; Celeste Dugré; Subway; Sleep Center; Doreen Ross; Lompoc Pizza Hut; Superior Home Health; Miguelito Elementary School; Cajun Kitchen; La Purisima Mission Mask Makers; Advanced Performance Physical Therapy; SONOS; Pickle & Peanut Restaurants Inc.; Jordano’s; Lompoc Little Caesar’s Pizza; Victoria Perez; Diana Coronado; Firework Foundation; The Daily Grind; Industrial Eats; Vivid Financial Management; Christine Collier; David Carey DDS; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Sue McIntyre; McDonalds; Hilton Garden Inn; Anita Macias; a collaboration of 18 wineries--Alma Rosa, Ampelos, Chanin, Fiddlehead, Flying Goat, Garcia, Kings Carey, Kita, Longoria, Loring, Pali, Piedrasassi, Sandhi, Santa Barbara Winery, Sea Smoke, Sweetzer, Temperance and Transcendence; CoastHills Credit Union; CenCal Health; Dunn School; American Host; Kateri and Chris Kingsley; Katherine Milham; Sweet Bliss Sugar Scrubs and Co.; Carol Kirkland; Dr. Iris Radler; Donna Bommersbach; Patricia Henry; Nancy Manes; Annamie Lafferty; Marilyn Romine; Courtney & Mitch Barnham; Ida Kreds; Ingrid Kaper; Judy Carpenter; Space X; Lompoc Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery; Santa Barbara Foundation; Lompoc Hospital District Foundation; Lompoc Unified School District; Lompoc YMCA; Floriano’s Mexican Food; Circle K; Keller Williams Realty of Lompoc; Girl Scouts of Lompoc; Arbonne independent distributors; Orcutt Bakery; Northrop Grumman; L3Harris Technologies; Astrotech Corp.; Harbor Freight; Home Depot; Direct Relief; Heath Dental; CHC Dental; Mikowicz Dental; Kimberly Nails; Not Alone Plumbing; Artisan Uprising Winery/Azeo Distillery; Starbuck’s Store 496; Tom’s Burgers; Super Grill; Sign Gypsies Central Coast.

Our frontline healthcare workers, support staff, physicians, and allied health professionals have been doing an outstanding job, and we are very thankful and proud of them!! Thank you, Lompoc Valley Community, for your tremendous support of LVMC and our healthcare workers; it means a lot to all of us!

As always, please feel free to contact me at popkins@lompocvmc.com or (805) 737-3301. Until next time, be well and stay safe!

Steve Popkin
Chief Executive Officer