Tri-City Medical Center’s Brand Identity initiatives received awards. Image courtesy of Tri-City Medical Center.
Oceanside’s Tri-City Medical Center was honored recently with 18 awards from the Health Care Communicators of Southern California for community outreach and its public engagement efforts.
Each year, the awards recognize the best health care marketing and communications teams, but, according to Tri-City, this year’s awards were especially meaningful for recognizing the medical center’s dedication to going above and beyond to inform and guide the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Top Prize
Tri-City Medical Center won the award show’s top prize, “Best in Show,” for its brand identity campaign that modernized the medical center’s brand to better reflect the communities it serves.
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Dr. Sarah McMurray keeps a big plastic box filled with the supplies she needs to treat COVID-19 patients in the back of her four-wheel drive SUV. From hand sanitizer to specimen-collection containers, there is just so much more that is needed when making house calls for those sent home early after coronavirus hospitalization.
The internal medicine specialist is among a core team at Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas piloting an “intensive” version of the medical center’s existing home-based care program. Created about 20 days ago, the new program is designed to help free up hospital beds as the number of COVID-19 patients admitted for care has surged to previously untold heights in recent weeks.
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As the number of staffed and available intensive care beds continued to run low Tuesday, county supervisors moved forward with the biggest changes to date in enforcement of local health orders, bringing in 17 more workers and allowing more proactive pursuit of blatant violations.
Those changes came on the same day that federal officials urged states to begin administering COVID-19 vaccines to people age 65 and older and anyone with pre-existing medical conditions.
Though some places have already implemented such changes, San Diego County, home to more than 473,000 people in that age bracket, isn’t among them.
“We will open eligibility as directed or allowed by the state,” said county communications director Mike Workman in an email.
The spread of the B.1.1.7 mutation has helped to push England into a lockdown
For weeks, he said, those coming through the hospital’s emergency room doors have often admitted to attending Thanksgiving celebrations with large groups of family and friends. Over the last few days, he said, the number admitting to such gatherings has decreased.
Now, he said, everyone on the front lines is praying that Christmas doesn’t follow the same pattern. The system, they warn, simply does not have enough trained workers left to handle yet another holiday spike. Just getting through the current one, Tovar said, has required a certain kind of battlefield mentality.