Press Release

To help the community better cope with the increasing number of potential patients with COVID-19, Prisma Health is transitioning its Prisma Hospital North Greenville Hospital into a dedicated facility for the care of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients.

Prisma Health hospitals in the Midlands and Upstate will continue to care for potential and confirmed COVID-19 patients. But the transition of North Greenville Hospital into a dedicated facility will give Prisma Health additional capacity if it’s needed.

“We hope it’s not needed, but we want it to be available if we see that it’s necessary,” said C. Wendell James III, MD, chief clinical officer for Prisma Health-Upstate. “We already had extensive disaster preparedness plans in place, and we have continued to aggressively strengthen them since January when the outbreak first began globally.”
“We want our communities to know that we’re ready – and prepared to meet the need,” said James.

Patients in North Greenville Hospital’s Long Term Acute Care area were moved to Prisma Health Baptist Easley Hospital starting Sunday afternoon, with patients in North Greenville Hospital’s ICU moved to comparable intensive-care units at other Prisma Health locations in the Upstate. Long Term Acute Care physicians, nurses, therapists and wound-care specialists moved with each patient to provide continuity of care and help with the transition.

“Preparing patients and families for moving to a new facility was met with support from all,” said Rebecca Cooper, community and customer relations coordinator. “They were grateful for the proactive process to care for our patients and the concern for the impact of COVID-19 on the greater community. Before the process began, we worked with all patients and families.”

All Prisma Health hospitals have negative pressure rooms already in place, with the capability to add rooms as necessary.

Teams are now modifying North Greenville Hospital’s Long Term Acute Care into several negative-pressure units, which will essentially make each unit its own negative-pressure isolation area to prevent spread of the virus.

Like other hospitals across the system, stringent protocols followed by specially-trained team members will help ensure the safety and protection of patients and their caregivers. The area housing the potential COVID-19 patients will be isolated from the rest of the facility and will use a separate entrance.

The Emergency Department and outpatient services (including lab, radiology, ultrasound) at North Greenville Hospital will remain open to the community.

Prisma Health continues to urge patients to use its Prisma Health Virtual Visits, which is free for anyone seeking care for potential COVID-19. It includes a new on-demand video option in addition to the existing online visit option. To access the free virtual visits, use payment code COVID19 at PrismaHealth.org/VirtualVisit.

For more information about COVID-19 and Prisma Health’s continued response, visit PrismaHealth.org/Coronavirus.

Prisma Health is actively working to ensure that patients who need care, including surgical, receive the care they need, when they need it. At the same time, given the COVID-19 public health crisis, our physicians are evaluating those routinely scheduled office visits and scheduled surgeries.

For provider appointments, our providers will determine if a telehealth visit is an alternative. This will include both telephone and video virtual health visits.

• Appointments are not cancelled unless the providers determine that after talking with the patient.
• Our practices are open for patients who need to be cared for by our providers on site for any acute issues.
• Each provider practice will proactively contact patients who have scheduled office appointments to determine if they come in person or if they set up a call or have virtual visit, if that is an option. Patients with smartphones or online video access may have additional options, such as using a video consultation.
• If a patient has a scheduled surgery, the physician will determine the best treatment plan and discuss that with the patient.

Prisma Health also continues to urge patients to use its Prisma Health Virtual Visit, which is free for anyone seeking care for potential COVID-19. It includes a new on-demand video option in addition to the existing online visit option. To access the free virtual visits, use promo code COVID19 at PrismaHealth.org/VirtualVisit.

The entire Prisma Health team is committed to meeting the healthcare needs of our patients and our community as we face concerns about COVID-19. Prisma Health will keep the public informed as the situation changes for its facilities and its patients.

For more information about COVID-19 and Prisma Health’s continued response, visit PrismaHealth.org/Coronavirus.

Prisma Health has received countless inquiries from area businesses, community organizations and individuals who would like to help provide necessary supplies during the COVID-19 public health crisis. We appreciate our local communities’ desire to come together during this time of need. The entire Prisma Health team is committed to meeting the healthcare needs of our patients and our community as we face the challenges ahead.

The following supplies are in high demand and will be accepted by Prisma Health: N-95 masks, surgical masks, splash-guard face shields, goggles, non-latex gloves, reusable or disposable isolation gowns, no-contact infrared thermometers calibrated for humans and ventilators. Disposable and single-use personal protective equipment must be new and sterile.

As a healthcare leader, Prisma Health must follow the highest standards for procurement, which excludes certain types of supplies from being used. At this time, Prisma Health is not accepting homemade masks for healthcare workers. We are working with our community partners to identify organizations that can use homemade masks and will provide more information about donation when it becomes available.

If you or your organization is interested in making an in-kind donation, contact Berri Heinz, Manager, Procurement and Supplier Diversity, at Berri.Heinz@PrismaHealth.org. Please allow three business days for a response to your supplies-related inquiry. For information on how to receive an in-kind donation form for tax purposes, please visit PrismaHealth.org/Giving.

Monetary donations may be made to Prisma Health or any of its affiliated Foundations on our website at PrismaHealth.org/Giving. If you have any questions, please contact Risé Wilson, Executive Director, Office of Philanthropy, at Rise.Wilson@PrismaHealth.org.

For more information about COVID-19 and Prisma Health’s continued response, visit PrismaHealth.org/Coronavirus.

Prisma Health recently updated its policy on team member personal protective equipment (PPE) to match the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

“We have taken numerous steps to protect our team members and our patients during the COVID-19 public health crisis,” said Mark O’Halla, president and CEO of Prisma Health. “We understand that people are anxious. We will never put our team members in a harmful situation.”

”The updated PPE policy, which complies with CDC and WHO guidelines, means we match the PPE used with the condition of the patient, which is a basic measure to creating a safe environment and ensuring the right equipment is used in the right setting,” said Eric Ossmann, MD, chief of Preparedness for Prisma Health, vice chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Prisma Health–Upstate. “This is even more important when there is a global shortage of PPE, particularly N95 masks. No one should be using PPE inappropriately.”

“The recent policy update was a change in practice for our Midlands locations. The Upstate locations were already operating under this policy,” Ossmann said.

To ensure all team members are comfortable in the clinical setting, Prisma Health is requiring surgical masks be worn by all team members who work in patient-facing environments. This is not just for nursing and physicians, it includes team members in Environmental Services, Food and Nutrition, Admissions – anyone who comes in contact with any patient.

“We have taken many steps to ensure our team members and patients are safe,” O’Halla said. “We have restricted visitors and limited entrances to our facilities. We also started temperature checks on everyone entering the hospitals, including team members.”

Prisma Health also has enhanced its Employee Assistance Program for team members in response to the increased pressures associated with this community health emergency.

“We know team members are worried about carrying the virus home to their families, which is why we have provided information on discounted hotel rooms for our frontline team members who do not want to go home between shifts,” O’Halla said. “We are grateful for our community partners who are making this available.

“We are also sharing with our teams the inspiring messages that we receive from the public, and we are posting our own positive messages about our team in internal communications and on Prisma Health social media channels,” O’Halla said. “We are very appreciative of the community’s efforts to encourage our dedicated healthcare workers as well.”

Prisma Health will begin a Blue Ribbon campaign, tying blue ribbons on trees on our campuses and encourages community members to do so at their own residences to show support for our healthcare team.

Prisma Health, the South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA) and local manufacturers are working together to bolster supplies for the COVID-19 response. Coordinating through the SCHA, Prisma Health has been able to replace elastic straps on N95 masks previously held in long-term storage. These masks were one of the back-up options to Prisma Health’s main personal protective equipment (PPE) supply.

Prisma Health’s emergency management and preparedness program includes maintaining an inventory surplus of critical supplies. The healthcare system’s inventory includes long-term overstocks of the masks in climate-controlled storage locations as an emergency back-up for an epidemic or pandemic event.

While the filter material on the stored “duckbill” style N95 masks remains pristine, the elastic bands that secure the facemasks to the wearer had become brittle. Prisma Health is taking the proactive step to prevent breakage by replacing the straps now, before the inventory is needed.

SCHA, which has offered assistance to healthcare systems across the state, helped identify manufacturers to assist with the project. SCHA helped negotiate an economical price with Phenix Engineered Textiles in Landrum, SC, to produce the straps and with a Sleep Number manufacturing plant to attach the new straps. The collaboration will result in the refurbishment of all of the duckbill-style N95 masks by early April.

In return for the companies’ excellent per unit strap cost, Prisma Health is donating 10% of the refurbished masks to the Midlands Health Care Coalition for its use and distribution to healthcare organizations.

Christopher Powell, director of Engineering Services for Prisma Health–Midlands, said, “Prisma Health is extremely grateful for businesses in the community responding to our needs with innovation and generosity. Our team members are working hard to care for patients during this public health crisis. We believe that collaboration is the key to getting through the COVID-19 crisis and saving lives.”

John Williams, director of Disaster Preparedness for SCHA, said, “This is an amazing story of South Carolina organizations coming together for a South Carolina solution. We are grateful for these manufacturers who stepped up for the state’s hospitals and health systems in our time of need.”

For more information about COVID-19 and Prisma Health’s continued response, visit PrismaHealth.org/Coronavirus.

About Prisma Health
Prisma Health is a not-for-profit health company and South Carolina’s largest private employer. With nearly 30,000 team members, 18 hospitals, 2,984 beds, and more than 300 physician practice sites, Prisma Health serves more than 1.2 million unique patients annually. Its goal is to improve the health of all South Carolinians by enhancing clinical quality, the patient experience and access to affordable care, as well as conducting clinical research and training the next generation of medical professionals. The organization was formed in late 2017 when Greenville Health System and Palmetto Health came together, officially becoming Prisma Health in January 2019. For more information, visit PrismaHealth.org.