As we enter 2022, things are beginning to return to normal with COVID cases declining and staff returning to usual activities. Overall we can say that the organization is doing great and that 2022 will be a year of great growth and progress for us. We will see more growth in our hospitals in Cleveland and definitely in our new hospital in Deerbrook with the expansion of new services and capabilities.
One of the things that is on everyone’s mind right now and that they are concerned about is all these mandates and regulations that staff must have as a condition of employment, and this is related to the vaccination mandate that is mandatory for CMS providers.
As you may know, all health care entities in Texas that receive Medicare funding are now required to have 100% of their staff fully vaccinated by March 15. Although we are aware of the various political and personal issues associated with this mandate, EHS must comply with this regulation to assure that we can continue to provide care to our patients as well as ensure that our staff is financially secure. This regulation comes from the federal government and we must comply to it. For that purpose, we have outlined a vaccination policy that addresses these issues and we encourage all of our employees to read and review it carefully.
Another challenge that we have outlined for 2022 is in relation to the communication with the staff, and to achieve this, we are organizing a series of Town Hall meetings that aim to provide opportunities for the staff to have face-to-face time with the Executive Team, so that they can ask questions, raise concerns, and review progress. These town hall meetings will be held every other month and will be on a rotating basis at all of our locations.
From a hospital perspective, we have completed all construction at the Deerbrook Hospital, which has been operational since the beginning of December 2021. We have been performing surgeries there, Cath Labs and other medical procedures. So it’s moving very well. At Texas Emergency Hospital we are working to add new operating rooms, which we hope to see completed in the coming weeks.
I would also like to welcome Robin Brown who is our new Chief Compliance Officer since January 4th 2022. She has a lot of experience in compliance and we are very happy with the progress she has been able to make in such a short time. So you will soon see some positive changes from a compliance standpoint.
2022 presents itself with many challenges and we are sure that we will achieve all our goals with the support and commitment of all our staff.
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