Growing numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths are troubling; facemasks can slow the trend
Mountain View, CA - November 23, 2020 - 114 of the nation’s top health care systems, representing thousands of hospitals in communities across the U.S., have come together with an urgent plea for all Americans – mask up, because wearing a facemask is our best chance at slowing the surging COVID-19 pandemic now.
More than 11.5 million Americans have tested positive for the virus – including an additional one million in just the past week – leading to nearly 250,000 deaths.
The current trends are daunting and frightening. If the nation stays on its current course, hospital leaders are increasingly concerned that more healthcare facilities will be overwhelmed as shortages of healthy caregivers make it difficult to handle a rapidly increasing number of patients. Unfortunately, this is already happening in parts of our country.
The next several months will be critical. Though there has been positive news about vaccine development, no one knows when those vaccines will be ready for widespread use. In the meantime, everyone must remain vigilant, take precautions and follow public health orders.
The country has reached a tipping point. The power to do what is right is now in the hands of everyone everywhere.
Public service messages are running in The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times. Additionally, hospitals and health systems across the country will continue to unite to share these messages regionally.
In an effort to reach a broader audience, the public service effort will also include messages on digital platforms, social media, online information, links to vital health resources and more. Combining resources demonstrates that these health organizations are working together, will accomplish this today and will get through this together.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points to recent studies that have shown facemasks successfully limit spread of the COVID-19 virus. Wearing facemasks protect in key ways: by protecting the wearer against inhalation of harmful pathogens and particulates and by preventing exposure of those around the wearer.
In addition to masking, the CDC suggests that everyone minimize the number of non-household contacts, maintain a physical distance of at least six feet, and limit the amount of time around others, especially while indoors and in poorly ventilated areas. For further information about masking guidelines – how to choose a mask, how to properly wear a mask – visit the CDC website.
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About El Camino Health
El Camino Health provides a personalized healthcare experience at two non-profit acute care hospitals in Los Gatos and Mountain View and at primary care, multi-specialty care, and urgent care locations across Santa Clara County. For nearly sixty years, the organization has grown to meet the needs of individuals and communities it serves. Bringing together the best in new technology and advanced medicine, the network of nationally recognized physicians and care teams deliver high-quality, compassionate care. Key medical specialties include heart and vascular, cancer and lifestyle medicine. The hospitals have earned numerous awards for clinical excellence, such as a 5-Star Overall Hospital Quality Rating from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and nursing care, including three consecutive American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet Recognitions for Nursing Care. Visit elcaminohealth.org to learn more.
About #MaskUp
www.everymaskup.com is a collaboration of over 100 leading health systems representing thousands of hospitals across the U.S. joining together to create messages for the betterment of communities they serve. The impetus for this, and other public service campaigns to follow, came from a group of health care marketing and communications executives meeting for a decade and reengaged weekly since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The goal is to share knowledge and experience, best practices, strategies and resources- knowing they can accomplish more together. Founded and led by Rhoda Weiss, Ph.D., Los Angeles-based national health care leader and consultant, the expanded coalition is partnering with Cleveland Clinic Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Paul Matsen and his team for this effort. Additionally, hospitals and health systems on a regional basis continue to come together to send messages like these of prevention and safety, hope and healing, life and death, care and caring.
The following hospitals and health systems are helping to spread this message across the country.
AdventHealth Adventist Health Allegheny Health Network Atlantic Health System Atrium Health Avera Health Banner Health Baptist Health Northeast Florida Baylor Scott & White Health Baystate Health Beebe Healthcare BJC HealthCare Bon Secours Mercy Health Boston Children's Hospital Cedars-Sinai Centura Health Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Children's Hospital of Orange County Children's National Hospital ChristianaCare Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center City of Hope Cleveland Clinic CommonSpirit Health Community Health Systems Cooper University Health Care Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health Duke Health El Camino Health Emory Healthcare Geisinger Hackensack Meridian Health HCA Healthcare HonorHealth Inspira Health Intermountain Healthcare Jefferson Health John Muir Health Johns Hopkins Medicine Kaiser Permanente Keck Medicine of USC LifePoint Health Lurie Children’s Main Line Health MarinHealth Mass General Brigham Mayo Clinic MedStar Health Memorial Hermann Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center MemorialCare (Southern California) Mercy Michigan Medicine Mount Sinai Health System National Jewish Health | Nationwide Children's Hospital Nebraska Medicine Nemours Children's Health System NewYork-Presbyterian Northwell Health Northwestern Medicine Norton Healthcare Ochsner Health OhioHealth Oregon Health & Science University OSF HealthCare OU Health PeaceHealth Penn Medicine Penn State Health Piedmont Healthcare Providence Renown Health Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Rush University System for Health RWJ Barnabas Health Saint Luke's Health System (Kansas City, MO) SCL Health Scripps Health Sharp HealthCare Southwestern Health Resources Spectrum Health SSM Health St. Elizabeth Healthcare St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital St. Luke's Hospital (St. Louis) Stanford Health Care Sutter Health Temple Health Texas Health Resources The Christ Hospital Health Network The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center ThedaCare TriHealth (Cincinnati) Trinity Health UC Davis Health UCHealth UC Health CINCINNATI UC San Diego Health UChicago Medicine UCI Health UCLA Health UCSF Health UNC Health University Hospitals (Cleveland) University of California Health University of Maryland Medical System University of Iowa Health Care Virtua Health Washington Hospital Healthcare System WellSpan Health |
Media Contacts
Christopher Brown, Director of Communications, El Camino Health
christopher_brown@elcaminohealth.org
650-694-3891
Rhoda Weiss, President & Founder, Rhoda Weiss Consulting Group, Inc.
rhoda@rhodaweiss.com
310-945-6730
Angie Kiska, Senior Director, Enterprise Communications, Cleveland Clinic
kiskaa@ccf.org
216-312-9170
