NEWS
Celebrating Covid Recoveries
On March 26, 2020, Family Practice Associates of Lexington PSC announced the following via social media. They had a “provider [who] has tested positive for COVID-19 at our Hamburg office. FPA has been in contact with the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department and are following health department guidelines for follow-up with exposed patients. In accordance with health department recommendations, patients who were seen by this provider while the provider was contagious have been contacted for follow-up. Once the provider developed symptoms, the provider self-isolated and did not report back to work.”
One month later, they announced a happy ending to the story. “Words can’t express how excited we are to see our beloved Dr. Foxx leave the hospital today after a 4 week battle with COVID-19. He is on his way home to recover! Thank you to Baptist Health Lexington, the other hospitals, healthcare facilities and physician & nursing teams who collaborated on his care.”
Dr. Jeffrey Foxx founded Family Practice Associates of Lexington in 1983.
In a separate case, a Lexington Physician Assistant at an urgent treatment center and mother of two, Sheila Thornsberry, was admitted to Baptist Health on April 2, and successfully treated and released in late April, according to announcements by Baptist Health. Thornsberry’s Facebook profile pictures included a frame that read “I can’t stay home. I’m a healthcare worker.”
Drive-thru testing in Hamburg
Drive-thru COVID-19 testing began on Friday April 24 at 2296 Executive Drive (the corner of Winchester Road and Executive Drive) — the former location of Rite Aid, and currently the site of a closed Walgreens. The testing was scheduled to continue for two weeks or until supplies ran out, as of press.
Those eligible for testing at this location are: healthcare workers, with or without symptoms, first responders, with or without symptoms, and individuals over age 18 with symptoms. To be tested, you must register online first at walgreens.com/coronavirus.
Contact Tracing
Lexington-Fayette County Health Department epidemiologist, Mia Williams, appeared on ABC World News Tonight with David Muir to talk about how contact tracing works and the training behind this investigative aspect of science. Williams and 21 other LFCHD staff are cross-trained in contact tracing and tracking down possible exposure when dealing with confirmed cases of COVID-19 throughout Fayette County.
Joy Ride
A parade of cars honked their horns and held signs displaying their gratitude for all the workers at UK Chandler Hospital, Kentucky Children’s Hospital, UK Good Samaritan Hospital, Shriners Hospital for Children, and Lexington police, fire, and EMS workers.
Virtual Health Summit
The Sanders-Brown Mind Matters Health Summit is going virtual this year on Monday, May 18 beginning at 10 am. Health professionals will discuss topics such as Staying Active while Social Distancing, Nature and Wellbeing, and COVID 19 & You: Staying Safe. Register at online or call 859-218-3775.
3D Printed Clips
David Stephenson and Chris Larmour from UK’s School of Journalism and Media/ Department of Integrated Strategic Communication created and donated mask clips to help out healthcare heroes.
The original design was NIH approved, and came from the NIH 3D Print Exchange. Larmour redesigned them to include the state of Kentucky and Stephenson has been printing them at home on his personal 3D printer.
The clips have been given to healthcare workers at UK HealthCare and Saint Joseph Hospital in Lexington as well health care workers in Kentucky, Indiana, Florida and New York.
When to seek care
The doctors at UK HealthCare want to reassure their patients that the emergency department is still open and ready for any urgent/emergent situations, whether it’s related to COVID-19 or not. The number of people seeking care when they need to has gone down more than 50 percent since the pandemic began.
“The most recent data shows that EDs nationally are at 50 percent of their pre-COVID volume and pediatric emergency departments are down 77 percent. That is consistent with what we’re seeing at UK,” said Dr. Daniel Moore. “We’re also seeing emergency heart attack visits are down 40 percent, suggesting that there is a fear associated with coming to the ED.”
To help both patient and staff exposure during COVID-19, the Emergency Department has restructured itself to meet the needs of patients by creating two emergency departments: a non-COVID-ED and a COVID-ED. Any suspected COVID patients are kept completely separate from all other patients as they enter the waiting room.
“We want patients to know that it is safe to come to our ED if you feel that you are having a medical emergency,” Moore said. “You will be protected from coronavirus.”
VIRTUAL HEALTH EVENTS
Rather than gathering in a physical location, virtual events allow people to interact remotely through technology. Virtual runs and walks take place on your own treadmill or neighborhood trail with proof of your run or walk tracked via an app.
May 2 Run for the Roses Virtual 5K, noon
May 2 KY Shines #TeamKentucky Virtual Half-Marathon, 6 am
May 9 Central Kentucky Virtual Heart Walk, 9 am
May 18 Sanders-Brown Virtual Health Summit, 10 am
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This article also appears on page 15 and 16 of the May 2020 print edition of Hamburg Journal.
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