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Effective today, Bethany Children’s Health Center is removing the masking requirement following a review of the current state of COVID-19 illnesses in our community.  Masking is optional inpatient care areas with the understanding that standard and transmission-based infection control precautions must still be followed.  In addition, there will be situations in which masking will be required as guided by the taskforce and must be adhered to by all staff.  PPE will continue to be available, and staff may continue to don masks in non-required situations as they choose.

Effective at noon today, the Hospital masking policy will move into the “yellow” or “medium” risk category.

• • Masks will no longer be required in non-patient care environments

• • Masks will continue to be required in ALL patient-care environments.  Examples of patient care areas include: patient units, gyms, ADL building, classrooms, treatment rooms, etc.

• • Eye protection will no longer be required in general

• • We will continue guidelines for distancing, and we will continue to follow our current plans for patient mixing

Effective Sept. 1, 2022 –

• There will be no internal unit mixing restrictions for patients
• Family room visits limit increased to 5 persons at a time (no food), Bedside visits allowed up to 3 persons. (Those ages 5 and up may visit bedside when properly wearing a mask)

Entrance 1 will be closed beginning Monday, August 29th, for the construction of the Bed Tower Canopy. All bed tower entry traffic will be re-routed to Entrance 2. Please see map below for more details.

Eight patients have tested positive for COVID. Units 1 and 4 are now closed due to COVID precautions.

Hello Bethany Children’s families,

We have recently had patients from two separate units test positive for COVID and will be updating our Masking Status to red. This includes the following:

• All staff and visitors will be required to wear a mask in all areas of the hospital
• No more than 2 visitors at bedside
• Visitors must be 12 years or older.

We take the health and safety of our patients as a top priority. Hopefully we will be able to lift these additional precautions soon.

Hello Parents and Guardians of patients at Bethany Children’s,

I am coming to you today on behalf of the COVID Task Force at the Hospital to provide some important information.

Earlier this morning, two of our patients in Unit 4 were found to be positive for COVID-19.  The source of transmission to these patients is not clear.  Both patients had fairly typical symptoms and our team responded quickly and appropriately to evaluate them.  Once the positive results were detected, our team immediately implemented the appropriate infection control protocols to contain further transmission and mitigate risks.  The steps that have been taken include:

• Closing unit 4
• The unit will remain closed for 14 days
• All patients in the unit will be tested on day 5
• Families of patients in that unit have been notified and visitation protocols adjusted accordingly
• Therapy/Education will adjust their programming accordingly, as well
• Relocating the 2 positive patients to private rooms in PMRU South.
• Implementing use of respirators and eye protection for all staff in unit 4 and for those staff caring directly for the positive patients

I am very proud of how our team acted quickly and efficiently to implement these protocols.  During the course of the pandemic, I am grateful that we’ve had very few positive cases in the inpatient setting. When we have had them, the above protocols have proven to be very effective in preventing further transmission.

The Task Force convened this morning to discuss this further and determine what, if any, other actions may be necessary.  Currently, Oklahoma has the lowest case rate in the country, and per the CDC community risk algorithm, Oklahoma continues to be low risk.  With that as the backdrop to help guide our decisions, the Task Force determined that the Hospital will remain in the “medium” risk category per the guidelines that we’ve developed.  This includes:

Patient care areas:

• Masks required for vaccinated staff (respirators optional)
• Respirators required for non-vaccinated staff

Non-patient care areas:

• Masks optional for vaccinated staff
• Masks required for non-vaccinated staff

For the next 5 days, we will not mix patients from different units for therapy or education sessions.  This will provide us a window of time to determine if any other cases may arise.  If we do see more cases arise in other units, that will likely be a trigger for us to move into the “high” risk category, but we will address that should the occasion arise.

All employees who were in contact with the two positive patients will be contacted by Employee Health and screened according to our defined algorithm.

While we certainly hope and pray that the pandemic will come to an end soon, we do realize that COVID-19 is likely to continue be with us for quite some time, at least at some level.  Thus, we do believe it is important for us to develop an approach that permits us to have a focused, discrete response to effectively managing and containing any positive cases that occur while minimizing disruptions across the entire Hospital.  We believe the approach that we have developed will achieve that dual aim.  We will certainly continue to carefully monitor this situation and respond according to what may arise.

We thank each of you for working with us to keep everyone at the hospital as safe as possible.

Thank you!

Dr. Michael Johnson

An assurance that we will continue to do everything possible to keep our patients, families and staff safe

Parents and Guardians of patients at Bethany Children’s,

We have always known that no one is immune to gun violence. The most recent of these events was in our own backyard in Tulsa, and at an institution we know very well. Our thoughts and prayers are with our friends and family at St. Francis. Our medical team is reaching out to them and is ready to help them through these difficult times.

After the challenges health care facilities have faced in the last couple of years, it is difficult to fathom something like this happening to workers who have given themselves and everything they have to keep our communities safe. Please keep the families of those victims in prayer. Also pray for the victims and families of the recent attacks across the country. God listens and answers his children.

There are a few things I wanted to reassure you of during this time.

1. Bethany Children’s Health Center maintains an armed security presence on our campus 24/7. Many of these officers are current or former military or law enforcement professionals. These officers perform roaming patrols, surveillance monitoring and incident response.
2. Our Command Center Operators monitor more than 175 security cameras, 150 access-controlled doors, video intercom systems, panic alarms and the lockdown system, which allows for an immediate lockdown of the entire facility.
3. Our radio network spreads across a 3-mile radius of the hospital campus to allow for clear communication and effective staging in the event of an incident.
4. We maintain a close relationship with Bethany Policy Department and the state Department of Emergency Management. We communicate with them regularly.
5. I have asked all employees to refresh their knowledge of our lockdown procedures used in the event of an active shooter situation.

In addition, our Security team has already been working on additional safety measures as we always seek to improve our safety systems. Here are some other measures coming soon:

• We have been working on training and educational programs to ensure staff is aware of steps they need to take in the event of any emergency.
• We are working with Oklahoma County SWAT and our community partners on community-wide active shooter training and other networked responses.
• Additional cameras and access-controlled points are routinely evaluated and added as needed.
• With upcoming campus remodels, we will be evaluating additional safety and security measures that can be added or upgraded as part of the new designs.

We will continue to pray that we will be ready for every situation, and we will continue to strive for constant readiness. Please reach out to me if you have any questions or feedback.

In grace and peace,

Nico

We are really excited to share about a new program that we are starting here at Bethany Children’s thanks to a special grant provided by the Cal Ripkin, Sr. Foundation. The program is called Badges for Baseball and here’s a quick description.

The Badges for Baseball program joins youth and community heroes to play and learn – building positive connections in the process. In this program, mentors from our local communities will use team sports to teach valuable life lessons, build relationships, and increase opportunities for children with disabilities to participate in adapted sports. Thanks to the Badges program, Bethany Children’s Health Center will receive sports equipment, training, ongoing support, and life skills education materials. Staff and volunteers will work alongside mentors to create an atmosphere of enrichment, opportunity, and fun for the children we serve.

We are hosting a Badges for Baseball kickoff event for inpatients on Tuesday, May 24 from 2-3:30PM. Please RSVP to your child’s special education teacher if you would like to attend. *Siblings ages 12 and older may attend the event, but are required to follow our general mask policy.

Beginning March 4, 2022 the General Mask Policy will be displayed on digital signage televisions, and on signage at all entry points to keep staff and visitors informed on our status as a hospital.

Please take note and abide by the General Mask Policy (applies also to volunteers, students and visitors) as indicated for each color status on the table below. Employees who have an approved accommodation must abide by the Accommodation Policy for each color status. The Hospital’s COVID-19 Task Force monitors many factors, including rolling average case rates, to determine the color status for each day.

+Also applies to visitors, volunteers, and students

**Examples of patient care environments: patient units, gyms, ADL building, classrooms, treatment rooms, clinics, etc. 

Universal eye protection will be enforced when masking status is “high” (red) and optional when in medium (yellow) and low (green).