LVMC Community Update, July 31, 2020

Dear Lompoc Valley Community:

July has come to an end today, baseball has begun (kind of), you probably missed your window to get a haircut, and the Covid-19 (“Covid”) situation continues largely unchanged.

COVID-19 Statistics and Information

• The Santa Barbara County Covid Positivity Rate (positive test results divided by total test results), for the seven-day period ending July 30, remained fairly flat at 8.8%, compared to 8.6% for the previous seven-day period. Although the rate of 8.8% is reasonably close to the State benchmark of 8%, the State uses data that is not as current as the County data. So, the State is still showing the Santa Barbara County positivity rate at approximately 10.5%.
• This week, the number of “active” Covid cases in Santa Barbara County decreased by 18.5%, from 356 on July 23, to 290 on July 30.
• The number of Covid positive Santa Barbara County residents who are hospitalized remained fairly constant this week. The number decreased early in the week, and then increased again later in the week. On July 30, there were 89 hospitalized patients, including 27 in ICU. A week ago, there were 86 hospitalized patients, with 27 in ICU. There are currently five Covid positive patients at LVMC, with none in ICU. That number is unchanged from a week ago.
• For the seven-day period ending July 30, the number of Covid tests performed on Santa Barbara County residents was 7,346, compared to 9,351 for the prior seven-day period. That represents a 21% decrease. There have been no material changes to testing protocols, so there is not an obvious explanation for the 21% decline in testing.
• Although the County website shows no new Covid related deaths during this week, regrettably there have been some in North County and South County, mostly individuals who were residing in nursing homes. The reason for the discrepancy is that the mortality figures are first reported to the State, and then they “trickle-down” to the County. Therefore, there is a delay in reporting to the County, and then the County to the public. There have been no Covid related deaths at LVMC since June 5, and to the best of my knowledge, there have been no deaths of any Lompoc Valley Community residents at any other facility since June 5.

LVMC Receives Awards for Patient Safety

The hard work and commitment of our LVMC Employee Teams and Physician Champion to patient safety and overall excellence has resulted in LVMC receiving three Tier 2 (the highest tier) awards from Beta Healthcare Group. They are:

• BETA’s Quest for Zero: ED Tier 2 (Emergency Department)
• BETA’s Quest for Zero: OB Tier 2 (Obstetrics)
• BETA HEART (Healing, Empathy, Accountability, Resolution, Trust)

Congratulations to all on being recognized for your excellent work on behalf of our patients!

Child Care/School Assistance

With in-person learning being eliminated for the upcoming K-12 school term, we are investigating alternatives to assist our employees with childcare, and potentially with remote learning assistance, so they can continue providing their essential services to our community. Although we are working diligently on this, we have not yet arrived at a solution. I know there are a lot of smart and creative people out there, and if any of you have ideas or suggestions, I would love to hear them. Thank you!

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!! (Those in bold have made donations since the last update.) 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 Office