NGHS urges community not to delay care
Press Release May 5, 2021
GAINESVILLE, Ga. – As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its second year, Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) is reminding people it’s safe to go to the doctor and encouraging you to not delay care. In addition to traditional physician visits, urgent care and emergency care, patients can now receive care from trusted physicians on your cell phone or tablet.
“We are still seeing patients delay their care, and that’s causing unnecessary complications,” said Mohak Davé, medical director of Emergency Services at Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC). “Regardless of how many COVID-19 patients are in the hospital, the Emergency Department is the best place to be if you’re experiencing anything that you think might be life-threatening. The worst thing you can do is stay home and hope it goes away.”
Even if you don’t need emergency care, there’s no need to put off routine check-ups or care for minor illnesses. To help patients get care no matter where they are, Northeast Georgia Physicians Group (NGPG) continues to offer three ways of digitally connecting with a care provider:
- Video Visits – During a video visit, patients connect directly with one of NGPG’s providers for diagnosis and treatment through a phone or computer – saving a trip to a clinic. Video visits are available for most specialties including primary care, internal medicine, pediatrics and more;
- After-Hours Care (Telemed) – With Telemed, you can get quick answers to healthcare questions by phone at no charge! Established patients with non-emergent issues after hours or on the weekend can call their provider's regular office number, hold until the Telemed service answers, and simply provide their name, birth date and reason for calling. An on-call provider will return their call within an hour;
- E-Visits – For some basic healthcare issues, like cough, sinus pain and more, patients can simply fill out a form on a computer or smartphone at any time of day or night. The answers are sent to an on-call provider who reviews them, provides a diagnosis, asks follow-up questions if needed and may send a prescription order to your preferred pharmacy. There is a standard $40 fee for each E-Visit, and submissions are reviewed between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
“Some patients are still uncomfortable entering a healthcare facility,” said Sakib Maya, MD, medical director for Urgent Care services for NGPG. “The good news is, we now have a variety of ways for everyone to get the care they need from wherever they are.”
For more information about these services and to schedule an appointment, visit ngpg.org/care.
ABOUT NORTHEAST GEORGIA HEALTH SYSTEM
Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) is a non-profit on a mission of improving the health of our community in all we do. Our team cares for more than 1 million people across the region through four hospitals and a variety of outpatient locations. Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) has campuses in Gainesville, Braselton, Winder and Dahlonega – with a total of more than 700 beds and more than 1,100 medical staff members representing more than 50 specialties.
Learn more at www.nghs.com.
NGHS may have to ration health care asks for help from community
News, Press Release December 23, 2020
PRESS RELEASE
GAINESVILLE, Ga. – As the number of COVID-19 cases across the region, state and nation continue to climb, Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) leaders are asking for your help – and warning another post-holiday spike may force them to start rationing care.
“We’re struggling to find staff and space to care for people, and our frontline workers are exhausted,” said Clifton Hastings, MD, Chief of Medical Staff for Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC). “If COVID cases continue to increase, we may be forced to start making decisions about who we can treat effectively and who we have to send elsewhere or turn away. That’s a decision no physician should have to make, and a situation no one in our community should have to face.”
On November 24, two days before Thanksgiving, NGMC hospitals and long-term care locations were treating 133 COVID-positive patients. That total has more than doubled in the following month, up to a record 296 patients as of December 23. The average percentage of tests the Health System administer that come back positive has also risen sharply, up from 16% to 28% during the same timeframe – matching the previous record set in July.
“Early in the pandemic, we learned that limiting some services and expanding others can create additional space to care for patients – which we’ve continued to do – but we’re still faced with the challenge of maintaining enough qualified physicians and nurses to provide high-quality care,” says John Delzell, MD, COVID-19 Incident Commander for NGHS. “We’re extremely thankful for the staffing support the state has supplied, and we will continue to request additional help, but hospitals across the state all need those same resources.”
NGHS received nearly 5,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on December 17 and has vaccinated approximately 2,000 frontline workers during the past week. The Health System also received around 1,500 doses of the Moderna vaccine on December 23. More shipments are expected in early January.
“It’s important to remember that vaccination isn’t a magic bullet that will end the pandemic immediately,” says Supriya Mannepalli, MD, NGMC’s Medical Director of Infectious Disease Medicine. “People are tired of hearing this, but the best way to protect yourself, the people you love and your community this holiday season is to not visit family and friends outside your household, or take precautions if you do.”
According to Wednesday’s COVID-19 Daily Status Report on the Georgia Department of Public Health’s website, Hall County has seen more COVID activity than any county in the state outside the metro Atlanta area. Hall County ranks:
#4 in Confirmed Cases per 100K – 7,847
#5 in Confirmed Cases – 16,193
#5 in Hospitalizations – 1,526
#9 in Deaths – 210
Other counties in the northeast Georgia region that also appear among the top 30 in those categories include Gwinnett, Forsyth, Jackson, Barrow, Stephens, Habersham and Franklin.
“It’s clear that Hall and surrounding counties have been hit especially hard during the pandemic,” says Richard Higgins, Hall County Commission Chairman. “There are a variety of factors at play, but one common factor we can all control are the personal steps we take wear a mask, wash our hands and watch our distance.”
“We all want to keep working, keep our local businesses open and keep our kids in school,” says Kit Dunlap, President of the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce. “Taking small, inconvenient steps now, like not having large holiday gatherings, will help our community avoid bigger and more difficult steps in the future – like rationing care. Please celebrate safely.”
Get holiday tips, vaccine information and more helpful resources at nghs.com/COVID.
ABOUT NORTHEAST GEORGIA HEALTH SYSTEM
Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) is a non-profit on a mission of improving the health of our community in all we do. Our team cares for more than 1 million people across the region through four hospitals and a variety of outpatient locations. Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) has campuses in Gainesville, Braselton, Winder and Dahlonega – with a total of more than 700 beds and more than 1,100 medical staff members representing more than 50 specialties. Learn more at www.nghs.com.
NGHS plans to add new tower, expand clinical services at NGMC Gainesville
News, Press Release December 3, 2020
GAINESVILLE, Ga. – Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) plans to grow its hospital in
Gainesville to meet the growing needs of the surrounding region by adding a new, multi-story
tower as early as 2024. This future tower is part of Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC)
Gainesville’s continued evolution into one of the state’s largest and most advanced community-
based, non-profit hospitals. The tower, which will be located next to the existing North Patient
Tower, will pave the way for several anticipated improvements including:
Moving the existing Emergency Department – among the busiest in the state – to the
ground floor of the new tower and expanding the department to care for more people
quickly and efficiently
Providing expanded and convenient access for advanced heart care including general and
interventional cardiology, heart failure treatment, electrophysiology, structural heart
program, cardiovascular surgery and more
Creating a new helipad on the roof of the tower, which will mean faster and more
efficient access to support life-saving trauma, heart, stroke and surgical care
Adding more operating rooms to expand available surgeries and procedures to treat
complex stroke, neurosurgery, cancer and vascular cases
Adding more than 150 new beds for inpatient care
Adding a parking deck with hundreds of new parking spaces for patients and visitors
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Adding the ability to care for more patients while also creating an opportunity for future
renovation of the South Tower
Timelines may shift depending on potential changes in the overall healthcare needs of the
community. Between 700 – 2,000 workers are expected to be on-site for planning and
construction at any given time as the project progresses.
“We’ve started referring to our future expansion and improvement projects as ‘Growing
the Greater Good,’” says Carol Burrell, president and CEO of Northeast Georgia Health System.
“That phrase is a reminder that when we grow facilities to care for more patients and expand our
clinical services, we’re ultimately reinvesting in the overall health of our region.
"Any time we add a new building, it’s a new place where we are helping people in many
ways – whether it’s providing a new service, creating new jobs or simply lifting the spirits of a
community. These projects go way beyond brick and mortar.”
NGMC Gainesville’s Emergency Department is routinely among the busiest in the state.
Moving the department to the future tower will create a more efficient space to help meet the
growing need for emergency and trauma care in the community. The expanded space will also
support training needs for an Emergency Medicine physician residency program, which NGMC
hopes to add in the coming year – as it continues to empower the physician leaders of tomorrow.
While planning for the future tower is underway, other improvement projects will
continue.
“We have a team that’s evaluating ways to improve how we move patients through the
hospital more efficiently, while maintaining high-quality care that will get them back home to
their loved ones as quickly as possible,” says Michael Covert, NGHS chief operating officer.
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“That includes reducing wait times in all parts of a patient’s journey, often starting with the
Emergency Department.”
NGHS forms Home Healthcare Service
News, Press Release October 6, 2020
GAINESVILLE, Ga. – Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) is happy to offer a new service to help patients transition from the hospital to their homes. Effective Oct. 1, NGHS and LHC Group, the preferred in-home healthcare partner for 350 leading hospitals around the country, partnered to launch Northeast Georgia Home Health in Gainesville.
“We are thrilled to partner with LHC Group to bridge the gap in NGHS’s continuum of care, ensuring our North Georgia region has access to a full range of services within our health system,” said Carol Burrell, president and CEO of NGHS. “Providing this in-home care is another way we’re achieving our mission of improving the health of our community in all we do.”
Northeast Georgia Home Health serves patients and families in Gainesville and the North Georgia region with high-quality, affordable healthcare services in the privacy and comfort of their home.
Based in Lafayette, Louisiana, LHC Group is a leading national provider of in-home healthcare services with 32,000 employees operating in 35 states and the District of Columbia – reaching 60% of the U.S. population aged 65 and older.
“Our LHC Group family looks forward to expanding our services in the state of Georgia by partnering with a respected, high-quality healthcare organization like Northeast Georgia Health System,” said Keith Myers, chairman and CEO of LHC Group. “With our combined talent, experience and resources, we will be able to provide care to more patients and families in Gainesville and across the region.”
Northeast Georgia Home Health will help patients regain strength and independence and attain the quality of life they deserve. It will offer valuable guidance and support, providing the educational tools and resources patients and families need to make informed decisions on care for themselves or loved ones.
If you have questions about Northeast Georgia Home Health or would like more information, please visit nghs.com/home-health or call 770-297-0041.
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ABOUT NORTHEAST GEORGIA HEALTH SYSTEM
Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) is a non-profit on a mission of improving the health of our community in all we do. Our team cares for more than 1 million people across the region through four hospitals and a variety of outpatient locations. Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) has campuses in Gainesville and Braselton, and is affiliated with hospitals in Winder and Dahlonega – with a total of more than 700 beds and more than 1,100 medical staff members representing more than 50 specialties. Learn more at www.nghs.com.
ABOUT LHC GROUP
LHC Group, Inc. is a national provider of in-home healthcare services and innovations, providing quality, value-based healthcare to patients primarily within the comfort and privacy of their home or place of residence. LHC Group’s services cover a wide range of healthcare needs for patients and families dealing with illness, injury, or chronic conditions. The company’s 32,000 employees deliver home health, hospice, home and community-based services, and facility-based care in 35 states and the District of Columbia – reaching 60 percent of the U.S. population aged 65 and older. LHC Group is the preferred in-home healthcare partner for 350 leading hospitals around the country.
NGHS shares more COVID-19 data
News August 18, 2020
PRESS RELEASE
GAINESVILLE, Ga. – Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) is releasing more data about COVID-19 to increase awareness of how the virus is spreading, who is being infected and how it’s impacting the availability of the system’s hospital beds. The data will be updated before 3 p.m. each day.
“As we participate in conference calls and discussions with organizations, government agencies, elected officials, patients and visitors – we always hear common questions about the positive rate of the tests our teams are performing, whether our hospitals are full and which populations are being affected the most,” says Carol Burrell, NGHS president & CEO. “Sharing this data gives everyone easy access to the answers each day, empowering them to make more informed decisions to protect themselves and their loved ones.”
When you visit nghs.com and click “Latest Data” at the top of the page, the first chart you’ll see shows a rolling 7-day average of the percentage of tests NGHS has provided that come back positive. Each positive is measured from the date of the test, not the date of the result. The chart includes an orange line representing the 7-day rolling average of the state’s percent positive rate, as well as a yellow line representing the 5% mark the World Health Organization (WHO) advises a community should be at or under before full-scale reopening. You can even zoom in on the graph to get a closer look at specific time periods.
“The chart shows the percent positive rate in our community is still well above the state’s rolling average and three times greater than the 5% mark – which is where we would like to see it,” says Supriya Mannepalli, MD, Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s medical director of Infectious Disease Medicine. “It’s proof that we have a long way to go in this region, especially as we head into a fall filled with uncertainty.”
The second chart on the page shows how many beds are currently filled and available across the system’s four hospitals, as well as how many of those beds are occupied by COVID patients or patients waiting on test results (also known as patients under investigation, or PUIs).
“The chart shows we have been very close to running out of beds since mid-July, when COVID volumes increased sharply,” says John Delzell, MD, one of NGHS’ COVID-19 Incident Commanders with a background in Public Health. “It seems very likely that relaxed social distancing and large gatherings around the 4th of July weekend drove the increase in cases. We should all keep that in mind as schools reopen and the Labor Day weekend approaches. We all need to make responsible decisions for our community’s health.”
“All it would take is one more big increase in COVID cases to force us to make the difficult decision to stop providing elective surgeries and other important services to free up resources or risk being overrun,” says Clifton Hastings, MD, Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s chief of Medical Staff. “That’s why it’s vital for people to continue following the 3Ws – wear a mask, watch your distance and wash your hands – to help limit the spread of the virus.”
Other charts on the page illustrate confirmed COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths by age groups – as well as confirmed cases by race, ethnicity and gender.
“This data clearly shows the virus does not discriminate, and it’s not just a problem for any one group in our community,” says Antonio Rios, MD, chief physician executive for Northeast Georgia Physicians Group and a member of the state’s Hall County COVID-19 Task Force. “It’s a shame that conversations and simple actions to protect each other have become so politicized. We are all facing this pandemic together, and it will take everyone working together to overcome it.”
You can get daily alerts about when the charts and data are updated by following NGHS on social media. Visit nghs.com/connect for links to the system’s pages on Facebook, Instagram and other platforms.
“All of our physicians, nurses and employees – from clinical workers on the frontlines to the people who mine this data from our records – continue to bring their best every day,” says Burrell. “They do it for you, because they truly care about improving the health of our community in all we do.”
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ABOUT NORTHEAST GEORGIA HEALTH SYSTEM
Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) is a non-profit on a mission of improving the health of our community in all we do. Our team cares for more than 1 million people across the region through four hospitals and a variety of outpatient locations. Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) has campuses in Gainesville, Braselton, Winder and Dahlonega – with a total of more than 700 beds and more than 1,100 medical staff members representing more than 50 specialties. Learn more at www.nghs.com.
ABOUT FETCH YOUR NEWS
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
Chamber virtual Business After Hours features NGHS COVID-19 presentation
News May 6, 2020
DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Northeast Georgia Health Systems (NGHS) hosted the Dahlonega-Lumpkin County Chamber of Commerce virtual Business After Hours Tuesday, during which staff from the Northeast Georgia Medical Center Lumpkin (NGMC-Lumpkin) provided an update on COVID-19.
Dr. Donna Whitfield, Chief of the Medical Staff said NGHS has administered about 700 COVID-19 tests since the outbreak in March. “I’m sad to say that we have seen two COVID-positive (Lumpkin County) deaths.”
There are currently 10 COVID-positive patients in the Lumpkin County hospital. “I’m proud to report that five of those have been cared for and been able to leave the facility and go back home,” Whitfield said.
So far, Lumpkin County has not seen a spike in coronavirus activity. “Now is not the time to relax, however,” she stated. “We’re not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination.”
Dr. Donna Whitfield
Whitfield warned of a possible second wave. “We understand everybody is ready to go back to some version of normalcy and a normal life and it’s OK to go back to work, we just stress simple precautions. Stick to the basics such as wear a mask, keep your distance from others, cover your coughs and sneezes, wash your hands regularly. All you have to do is look at Hall County to see how quick this virus can spread.”
Wednesday morning, Hall County reported 1,882 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 27 deaths.
Public Relations and Marketing Director Sean Couch explained what data could be found on the website at nghs.com.
Couch said, “It’s everything from what do you need to do if you’re sick, how can you help us during this time how can you donate supplies and material, how can you sew masks and gowns, which we have a critical shortage of right now, how can you access our pastoral care services.”
The website will also show when the coronavirus is projected to hit its peak, which currently is some time around mid-June.
Layne Michell, Executive Administrator of Operations, talked about the growth of NGMC-Lumpkin. “We opened our hospital here with 10 in-patient beds,” he said. “We are currently operating 23 in-patient beds and as of tomorrow, we will be operating 33.
Michell said the Lumpkin and Barrow County hospitals are preparing for a time when the Gainesville campus reaches overflow.
“We have had wonderful, strong (community) support,” Michell said. “That has been very important to the staff. It’s very heartwarming when you have the local restaurants show up at your door with lunch or drive by with some chocolates.”
He added, “We still want to take care of our non-COVID patients. Our ER is not really very busy right now. We’re seeing that patients seem to be a little nervous about coming to the hospital. We want to make sure everyone knows to keep coming. Don’t avoid the hospital.”
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
NGHS reports 111 COVID-19 cases
News April 21, 2020
GAINESVILLE, Ga. – Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) which operates hospitals in Gainesville, Dahlonega, Braselton and Winder, has released data about its COVID-19 cases. Monday afternoon, NGHS reported that 15 deaths have occurred and 111 COVID-19 patients had been treated.
While this information is shared with the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) each day, it may not match what is available on the Georgia DPH website due to a lag in how the information is verified and updated.
“Keep in mind, due to challenges that still exist with testing, we are confident that even our latest data doesn’t truly reveal all cases that exist in our community,” says Supriya Mannepalli, MD, chair of Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s Infection Prevention & Control Committee. “It’s a certainty there are more people with COVID-19 in our region who haven’t been tested and aren’t showing any symptoms.”
On Monday, Gov. Brian Kemp announced plans to reopen parts of Georgia’s economy, including barber shops, hair salons, gyms and fitness centers later this week and restaurants by April 27.
NGHS has a predictive model – which applies widely respected methodology developed by the University of Pennsylvania to real-time data from NGHS – which currently shows COVID-19 activity may eventually outpace the health system’s capacity.
“It’s true that we have some capacity for patients today, but that is extremely likely to change,” says Clifton Hastings, MD, chief of NGMC’s Medical Staff. “The only way to lessen the likelihood of our hospitals being overwhelmed is for people to continue following expert recommendations to stay home as much as possible, wear masks and isolate if you develop symptoms.”
“Our intensive care units in Gainesville and Braselton are hovering between 60-80% full on any given day, and they would have already been overwhelmed if we had not recently increased our total ICU beds from 91 to 134,” says Michael Covert, NGHS chief operating officer. “We look forward to adding 20 more beds when a mobile ICU unit granted by the state arrives on May 5. We have also increased the number of medical/surgical beds across all four hospitals from 474 to 522, and we have a total of 108 ventilators across the health system.”
NGHS President and CEO Carol Burrell said, “Some people may think we are overstating the seriousness of the situation, and they’re anxious to get back to ‘business as usual,Trust me, as a non-profit, we understand that sentiment for many reasons. But our physician leaders, clinical experts and objective data all tell us now is not the time to relax. Rather, now is the time to continue to take every precaution we can.”
People can continue to get the latest information about what they need to do if they feel sick, how NGHS is responding to the pandemic and how the community can help at nghs.com/COVID-19.
“We know people are tired of staying home, but this is about saving as many lives as possible,” says Burrell. “Thank you for doing your part, and know you should be proud of our entire team – physicians, clinical staff, support staff, everyone – who are working tirelessly to care for you and your loved ones.”
ABOUT NORTHEAST GEORGIA HEALTH SYSTEM
Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) is a non-profit on a mission of improving the health of our community in all we do. Our team cares for more than 1 million people across the region through four hospitals and a variety of outpatient locations. Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) has campuses in Gainesville, Braselton, Winder and Dahlonega – with a total of more than 700 beds and more than 1,100 medical staff members representing more than 50 specialties. Learn more at www.nghs.com
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com