MUSC Health tri-weekly COVID 19 report (March 30)

CHARLESTON, S.C. (March 30, 2020) –At MUSC Health, the safety of patients, families, care team members, students, faculty and staff remains the number one priority. In an effort to provide accurate, relevant and timely COVID-19 information to news media in South Carolina and beyond, the MUSC Public Affairs and Media Relations (PAMR) department issues regular COVID-19 updates on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week. Please read the report in its entirety. 

This information is for the Charleston area only. For information about MUSC Health Florence or Marion Medical Centers, please contact Kim Geiger at geigerki@musc.edu. For information about MUSC Health Chester or Lancaster Medical Centers, please contact Ashley Shannon at shannona@musc.edu.

MUSC Health (confirmed as of 3-30-2020)

Basic stats

Telehealth screenings through musc.care: Approximately 18,000

Total patients seen at West Ashley specimen collection site: Approximately 3,500

Inpatient pending rule-outs: 18

Total number of completed COVID-19 tests: 2,944

COVID-19 positive cases

Inpatient: 5

Outpatient/community via collection site: 169

Health care workforce: 34

We support our team member's rights to privacy and protection of health information and will not confirm or deny name, role or any other identifying information related to COVID-19 positive cases for our workforce. We have internal notification and tracing protocols in place to contact those patients who may have been at high-risk for exposure from a health care provider.

Surge capacity

MUSC Health has begun collaborating with the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Guard to plan a MASH-style care facility on campus, should it be needed, adding approximately 270 more beds for COVID-19 patients who do not require critical care. 

MUSC Health has plans to use recently vacated, critical care space in the old Children’s Hospital, now known as University Hospital Extension, as well as possible ICU space in Ashley River Tower for approximately 130 extra beds. We are working with our regional health network hospitals in Florence, Marion, Chester and Lancaster to assess and plan for surge capacity in those parts of the state. We continue to assess other options with area partners and organizations.

Supplies / Equipment 

General status (green, yellow, red): GREEN

Ventilators: We monitor ventilator use across our system and are pulling in more capacity in real-time. The exact number continues to be a moving target as we double-check current equipment, receive new equipment and pursue new supply chain pathways in the private industry as well as through state and national assistance efforts.  We hope to provide more detail this week as the number stabilizes.

MUSC Health asks that media and the community please take into account that the ability to care for patients who need ventilators involves a number of variables; our current stock is considered adequate as we prepare for a possible surge in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.  

MUSC Health is encouraging the community to donate the following supplies at the MUSC Warehouse in North Charleston, located at 4295 Arco Lane Charleston, SC 29418, in preparation for patient surges related to COVID-19:

N95 masks

Surgical masks

Protective eyewear

Face guards and face shields

Sterile gloves

Hand sanitizer

Industrial cleaning wipes

Thermometers (all kinds)

Pharmacy needs:

Hydroxychloroquine

Azithromycin

Ethanol

200 proof USP-grade alcohol

Details are available here: https://muschealth.org/patients-visitors/coronavirus-information/donations-to-musc-health

MUSC In-house COVID-19 testing capability

MUSC Health has increased in-house testing capability and with further capacity planned, is shifting the majority of incoming COVID-19 testing needs to in-house labs. MUSC Health is no longer sending specimens to DHEC at present time. MUSC Health’s goal is to meet all testing needs in house, however is still prepared to use private labs as needed. In the coming weeks, most patients accessing screening and specimen collection through musc.care should see a significant decrease in wait times for test results. 

MUSC COVID-19 info for repurpose with permission/credit or follow-up story ideas:

https://web.musc.edu/about/news-center/2020/03/27/specialists-talk-about-high-risk-groups

https://web.musc.edu/about/news-center/2020/03/26/3d-printed-masks-developed-at-medical-university-of-south-carolina

https://web.musc.edu/about/news-center/2020/03/25/smell-test-possible-new-covid-19-symptom-emerges

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About MUSC

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the oldest medical school in the South, as well as the state’s only integrated, academic health sciences center with a unique charge to serve the state through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates and trains more than 3,000 students and nearly 800 residents in six colleges: Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy. The state’s leader in obtaining biomedical research funds, in fiscal year 2019, MUSC set a new high, bringing in more than $284 million. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.

As the clinical health system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest quality patient care available, while training generations of competent, compassionate health care providers to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Comprising some 1,600 beds, more than 100 outreach sites, the MUSC College of Medicine, the physicians’ practice plan, and nearly 275 telehealth locations, MUSC Health owns and operates eight hospitals situated in Charleston, Chester, Florence, Lancaster and Marion counties. In 2019, for the fifth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org.

MUSC and its affiliates have collective annual budgets of $3.2 billion. The more than 17,000 MUSC team members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers and scientists who deliver groundbreaking education, research, technology and patient care.