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August 16, 2022

The Chestertown Spy

An Educational News Source for Chestertown Maryland

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Pandemic Alert: Kent County COVID Numbers Now Considered “Substantial”

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COVID-19 cases are rapidly increasing across the country, especially in areas with low vaccination. This week, the United States’ level of community transmission increased from substantial to high.  Unfortunately, the Kent County Health Department has learned that our county level of transmission has increased from moderate to substantial (a change to be reflected next week when the CDC is scheduled to update its COVID Data Tracker.)

This surge is being driven by Delta, a variant of the virus that causes COVID-19. Delta is much more contagious than past versions of the virus and spreads about two to four times as easily from one person to another. Since vaccinated individuals can still spread the Delta variant to others, the CDC recommends everyone over the age of 2 wear a mask indoors in public regardless of their vaccination status.

“The Kent County Health Department urges everyone to follow the CDC’s advice,” stated Health Officer, Bill Webb. “Wear your mask and get fully vaccinated if you haven’t already. Getting fully vaccinated is the best thing you can do to protect yourself and those around you. All vaccines are safe, effective, free, and readily available in Maryland.”

  • Wearing a mask is strongly recommended in all public indoor settings regardless of your vaccination status for ages 2+ while community transmission remains substantial or high. With the Delta variant, this is more urgent than ever.

  • Now is the time to get vaccinated. Appointments are available through the Kent County Health Department at kenthd.org or by calling 410-778-1350. You can also schedule through pharmacies, clinics, and other sites in Maryland by visiting  https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/vaccine,  texting your ZIP code to 438829, or calling 1-855-MD-GOVAX.

  • Everyone who has COVID-19 symptoms or who has been exposed should get tested. If you have been around someone with a confirmed case of COVID, get tested 3-5 days after exposure, even if you have no symptoms and/or you have already been vaccinated. Call the Kent County Health Department at 410-778-1350 to schedule a test or visit MD’s testing site locator.

Compass Adds New Hospice Wing to Honor Mildred Barnette and Keep Mission Going

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For any Kent or Queen Anne’s County family who has lost a loved one, but was fortunate to have Compass hospice support at the end of that person’s life, there should be a certain degree of gratitude for Mildred Barnette.

While most of those who use Compass’s hospice care may not have a clue who Mildred is, they owe her a lot for her vision as the founding director of Compass Hospice for the loving, compassionate care of grandparents, parents, spouses, or children at their end of life.

Fortunately, one anonymous donor did know of Mildred Barnette’s remarkable contributions to the Mid-Shore community and quietly worked with current director Heather Guerieri to provide the leadership gift for the new wing of the Compass Centreville facility. And while the Compass board respects the privacy of this generous philanthropist, the staff and volunteers can’t hide how thrilled they are with the major $5 million addition.

The addition of five new patient bedrooms, family rooms, children’s space, and a commercial kitchen, are indeed major improvements but they are also essential to Compass’s commitment to Kent and Queen Anne’s community. While most of the Compass patients can use the organization’s services at home, Shore Regional Health Chestertown hospital, or in the soon-to-be-built facility in Caroline County, the Centreville home base is now able to take on far more of the region’s most serious of cases.

The Spy sat down with Heather a few weeks ago for a quick tour of the new wing and how the Barnette Center is a perfect way to honor Mildred’s important legacy of hospice care for the entire Mid-Shore.

This video is approximately four minutes in length. For more information about Compass please go here.

Choptank Health Comes to Kent County with Sara Rich

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While Kent County has had good reasons to celebrate the recent news that the Shore Regional Health’s Chestertown hospital would remain a full-service facility with its new designation as a “critical care” health center, there was another bit of news about the same time that might have been overlooked with all that excitement.

About the same time that the State of Maryland re-classified the town’s hospital, it was also announced that Choptank Community Health System had joined in a partnership with Shore Health to serve the needs of Kent County. Choptank might be a new name for locals, but it has been a highly respected health provider for the Mid-Shore for almost four decades.

Originally launched by concerned nurses and doctors in Caroline County in 1978, Choptank’s mission was to establish comprehensive primary health care services to all residents, regardless of one’s ability to pay. And since that time, the nonprofit health provider has grown to establish centers in Cambridge, Denton, Easton, Federalsburg, Goldsboro, and St. Michaels. And now Chestertown will be added to this list starting in 2022.

Not only has Choptank grown in the territory they cover, but in the last several years, they have significantly expanded their mission to include dental care, in-school health centers, and now behavioral health as well.

The Spy sat down with Sara Rich, Choptank’s CEO and president, at the White Swan Tavern the other day to learn more about Choptank and what they will be bringing to Kent County.

This video is approximately seven minutes in length. For more information about the Choptank Community Health System please go here.

Chestertown Welcomes Dramatic Hospital Upgrade 

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The University of Maryland Shore Medical campus at Chestertown is going through a dramatic transformation and plans to become a state and national model for rural health care.

UM Shore Regional Health President and CEO Ken Kozel offered an hour-long slide show, “Reimagining Eastern Shore Health Care,” to the Chestertown Town Council during Monday 19th session.

“Some of the services that we will offer as part of the new model hospital-based care are  emergency care; surgical services; primary care; and specialists unique services for the aging and the elderly in our population; ways that we can care for patients at home; and transportation solutions that will enhance our ability to access these services, and again, do it in a way that’s going to promote good communication back and forth from our community to our health care system, Kozel says.

Initiated by July 1, the Maryland Rural Hospital, modeled after the Critical Access Hospital designation used nationally, will be licensed for up to 25 beds with an average of up to 4-day stays for patients with general conditions along with a state-of-the-art 24/7 emergency department and diagnostic service.

A primary focus on Kent County’s aging demographic will become central to the new hospital’s mission. A Geriatric Medicine provider will be brought in, and a Geriatric Emergency Medicine Stabilization and Transport Team will be established. In-person telehealth capabilities for access to specialists’ care will also be included.

The Aging & Wellness Center of Excellence of primary care, behavioral health, and dental services will be a collaboration between Shore Regional Health and Choptank Community Health.

“Choptank Community Health is going to be our collaborator for providing primary care, behavioral health, and dental services in Chestertown and throughout Kent County. Choptank exists today in the mid-shore region and has been established for over 40 years in the mid-shore. They have locations in Caroline Dorchester and Talbot counties, and they have a staff of more than 200 employees as part of Choptank Health. They serve over 30,000 patients in our community annually. They are an important provider, and collaboration with them will help meet these essential needs of primary care, behavioral health, and dental services.

Additionally, Mobile Wellness Teams, similar to those provided by Queen Anne’s Emergency Medical Services, will be added to the hospital’s plan. Noting that Kent County EMS is volunteer-based, Shore Regional Health will work with Kent County Health Department to hire and train additional team members to promote health and wellness at home, including in-home telehealth visits, home safety inspections, medication management, chronic disease management.

Another key addition will be a Geriatrician practice based in Chestertown and specializing in pulmonology, cardiology, urology, continence/pelvic health, GYN, ENT, Diabetes/Endocrinology, home sleep studies, and nephrology. Collaboration with Upper Shore Aging will assist with food insecurity, prediabetes screening, hypertension, and medication management.

Commissioning a consulting agency to study transportation needs in Kent County, the enhanced hospital also plans to address the long-sought solutions to improve medical and non-medical transportation in the region by working with community partners to define potential funding sources to improve the service.

By July 1, many of these services will be in place, with additional services added this Fall.

For a complete understanding of the Mr. Kozel’s presentation, the Spy is offering access to the core of Mr. Kozel’s slide narrative.

While the video runs for approximately 22 minutes, we feel it is important to offer our readers details of these extensive changes to the hospital. For years, questions about the future of the hospital have nagged County residents. Quite simply, Shore Health has delivered a premium healthcare model that will serve all well into the future.

This video is approximately 26 minutes in length. 

 

A “Critical” New Title for Chestertown’s Hospital with Shore Health’s Ken Kozel

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Perhaps one of the more significant events in Chestertown’s long history is expected to take place in a few weeks. While there is no official celebration planned to mark this important moment, this is when it is anticipated that the Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC) will give the final approval of the town’s hospital becoming designated as a critical access facility in the eyes of the State of Maryland.

That might sound a bit bureaucratic, but it’s a huge deal.

This label determines that the UM Shore Medical Center at Chestertown is so rural, so remote, that it can operate as a full-service hospital even if the costs of running the facility could be above current standards for similar medical facilities in Maryland.

The Spy spoke to Shore Regional Health’s CEO Ken Kozel last week about this remarkable moment. As someone who has played a leading role for more than a decade with Chestertown’s hospital and the debate on its future, Ken notes that this historic phase for health care that Chestertown, and more broadly, Kent County and northern Queen Anne’s County, will be entering. He also talks about the five-year process that this new designation kicks off, including intensive community engagement. All to help determine precisely what a critical access hospital does, since Chestertown will be the first of its kind in the State.

This video is approximately six minutes in length. For more information about Shore Regional Health please go here.

Cohort Outbreak Reported on Campus; Students Affected Placed Under Mandatory Quarantine

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From the Washington College News Service:

Be advised that due to a COVID cohort outbreak within one residence hall, this location only has been re-classified to the campus RED Alert level and all students living in this particular hall are under mandatory quarantine. This decision was made in partnership with the Kent County Health Department leadership, and following guidance issued by the CDC and the State of Maryland. This quarantine went into effect on 8 PM on Feb. 12, and is expected to last up to 14 days.

A cohort outbreak is defined as 5 more related COVID cases within a 14-day time period. In the last several days, there have been a total of 11 positive COVID cases, all linked to this one specific residence hall. There has been no further spread.

Because this cohort outbreak is confined to a specific residence hall, Washington College is still operating at a Yellow Alert Level overall.

The mandatory quarantine has been enforced in order to stop the spread of the virus throughout the rest of the Hall and prevent further spread on campus. While all students who have tested positive were quickly moved into the designated Isolation housing per the established protocols, the remaining residents were potentially exposed to the virus prior to the positive test, due to the congregate setting.

Students were given the option to return to their primary residence for the quarantine period, or remain in place in the residence hall.  Any student who opted to leave campus was required to complete paperwork that provides details on where they will be for their quarantine and acknowledges that the family members in the residence are aware of and accept the risks associated with having contact.

Any student departing campus is required to quarantine for a full 14 days, and must provide a negative COVID test result from within 72 hours of their return date.

Students who complete this quarantine on campus are to remain in their suite. Meals, mail, library materials and other necessities will be delivered. Students are able to sign up for daily outdoor exercise time, which will be done under the supervision of College staff.

All students who remain on campus for this quarantine will be tested on Tuesday 2/16 and again on Friday 2/19. Health Services staff will administer and supervise each test. Students who quarantine on campus may be able to clear quarantine sooner than Feb. 25, with a second negative test.

WC Students Returning Under Strict Guidelines

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Vice President and Dean of Students Sarah Feyerherm attended Monday’s Town Council meeting to update the Council on Washington College’s plans for student attendance during the continuing pandemic.

Students began returning to the campus on Tuesday 19th. Feyerherm told the Council, with 400 students planning to be on campus, 238 off-campus, and 400 staying at home. The return will be staggered over two weeks.

With traditional classrooms closed, all students will attend classes online. Currently, the campus is closed except for deliveries.

Feyerherm states that strict guidelines are in place to prevent large student gatherings both on campus and off-campus. Aside from using the dining hall and exercise outside, campus activities will be limited.

As students return to campus, they will be tested for virus infection. Testing will be ongoing, with each student being tested every two weeks with 24-48 hour lab results from the University of Maryland. The students are expected to quarantine between initial tests.

If an on-campus student tests positive, quarantine and isolation places are available. Off-campus students will be allowed to quarantine at their residence. Weekly testing results will be posted on their website.

A re-evaluation of the safeguards will be made in late March.

Ward 4 Council Person Meghan Efland asked about concerns the town might have with off-campus housing and how to address them. Feherherm told the Council that any observed behavior concerns should be reported to the town police or directly to her office.

Mayor Cerino said he would be remiss if he did not air his concern, adding “this is definitely a conundrum for the mayor and council because we obviously want the College to succeed because it is a huge engine for Chestertown educationally, economically and culturally,” but that if guidelines are not met, non-symptomatic students with the virus could unintentionally endanger the more vulnerable in the community.

This video is approximately six minutes in length. More about Washington College may be found here.

Kent County Vaccine Roll-Out: A Chat with Health Officer Bill Webb

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As the national and Maryland Covid-19 positivity rates spike, the need for clear instructions about how, when and where to get the vaccine is front and center in our lives.

The Spy interviewed Kent County Health Officer Bill Webb to discuss the Maryland vaccination plan and how it is being implemented in Kent County.

Maryland will distribute the vaccines to five different priority groups based on relative risk of exposure or developing serious illness.Vaccinations will be given at the Kent County Health Department in Chestertown.

Currently, Kent County is in part 1A of the three-part plan. 1A is the vaccination of frontline hospital staff health care workers, nursing home residents and staff, law enforcement and firefighters, EMS, all licensed, registered, and certified health care provider, correctional health care staff and officers. 1A is by invitation, and the injections are administered at the Kent County Health Department in Chestertown.

As the roll-out continues, an online application process will be required. For those without internet services or who have difficulty with the application, a network of volunteers is standing by.

Despite a recent Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommendation that anyone above the age of 65 get the vaccine, Maryland Governor Hogan said yesterday that the State would continue its original immunization plan.  

The most accurate way to find out when you may get the two-shot vaccine is to go to the Maryland Covid Link here.

The Kent County Health Department at 125 South Lynchburg Street in Chestertown may be reached at 410-778-1350

This video is approximately seven minutes in length.

 

Exit Interview: Patti Willis Looks Back at Healthcare’s Transition on the Mid-Shore

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The Spy “Exit Interview” series is part journalism and part oral history. Over the last eleven years, the Spy has interviewed dozen of local leaders at the moment of their retirement to reflect on their work and some of the challenges they have faced in their professional careers.

We continue with our chat with Patti Willis, Shore Regional Health senior’s long-serving vice president for communications.

For more than four decades, Patti has had a front-row seat in watching the rapid and sometimes controversial health care changes on her native Eastern Shore. In her Spy interview, she recounts the transition from independent community hospitals to one sizeable regional organization serving five counties.

Patti also shares what lessons she’s learned over this complicated process, as well as her observations

Spy Profile: A Chat with Kent Center’s Wesley Campbell

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Kent Center in Chestertown is one of the least known and most valuable health assets in Kent and northern Queen Anne’s counties, where they provide opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental issues to learn to live up to their potential.

Recently celebrating its 50th year of operations, Kent Center offers a broad spectrum of customized programs and services for the individual with special needs. 

Under the new Executive Directorship of Wesley Campbell, the Center continues its mission to prioritize the health and well-being of every person in their care even as they have to suspend programs and activities to safeguard their clients from the pandemic.

The disruption in services hasn’t been all bad, Campbell says. 

“As we restructured the organization we began looking closely at the fundamental ways we’ve been doing things. The pandemic shutdown gave us an opportunity to re-evaluate the care process and are now experiencing better outcomes,” he says.

With 150 employees, Kent Center is one of the largest employers in the area and hopes to expand to 200, a target they say would optimize the delivery of their services. 

“It’s heartfelt work and requires dedication. We’re always looking for that special kind of employee.”

The Center also owns or rents 14 houses from Kent Narrows to Galena to provide independent living “for people who may have previously been unable to live in the community due to complex medical conditions or severe disabilities” along with people wanting to transition from their home environments.

They also provide Community Supported Living Arrangements (CSLA) to enable the individuals to live and thrive in their own homes, apartments, family homes, or rental units. Services may include meal preparation, engagement in community events and activities, assistance with medical appointments, help with shopping and other errands, money management.

Another strategy is their Supported Employment Service to provide the training, job connections, training on the job coaching and one on one help with resume writing, interviewing, interview follow-up, and other job connection services.

“We want to help them meet their personal goals as valued citizens in the community,” Campbell says.

Wesley Campbell recently met with the Spy to introduce us to Kent Center.

This video is approximately six minutes in length. To find out more or make a donation to the Kent Center please go here.