FAQ #31 September 18, 2020 from CEO Conference Call 9/16

FAQ #31: September 18, 2020 — Containing Answers from September 16th     

Answers to Staff Questions on Employee Health and Safety, Patient Care, HR Policies, and Return to Work

The following FAQs were adapted from questions submitted by VNSNY staff for the CEO

Conference Calls hosted by Marki Flannery on Wednesday, September 16th.

Employee Health and Safety

I work from home. Can I go to the VNSNY office in my borough for the flu shot? I feel it’s the safer option than CVS, Walgreen’s, or Duane Reade.

Michael Bernstein, Chief Administrative Officer: One of my areas of oversight is facilities. So I can report that we have identified rooms in all of our regional offices and our 220 office in Manhattan for health services to administer flu shots. However, we haven’t gotten the vaccines in-house yet. We’re waiting for the FDA to release them, to providers such as us, in order to administer the flu shots. We hope to get the vaccines next week. And when we do have them, we will send out communications about the rooms, the locations and the hours when they will be available

Any update on when health services will have flu shots available for employees?

So as mentioned earlier, we are hopeful that we will get them by next week, but we are waiting for the FDA to release them. We are ready, willing and able, to start administering flu shots once we receive the vaccine. And we will immediately share that information with everyone, letting them know the schedule for administration, once the vaccines are received.

Marki mentioned on her September 8th call about the flu shots recommended for people over 65. However, the voucher does not cover the shot for people 65 and over. If I wanted the shot I would have to go through my insurance. Would you look into the possibility of adding the 65 and over shots to the vouchers moving forward, or for next year?

Marian Haas, Chief Human Resources Officer: We did look into the possibility of adding 65 and over to our pharmacy agreements for this year. Unfortunately, we’re not able to do that this year, but we will look into doing that for next year. We did hear from one employee that she did go to CVS and got the 65 and over, so you may find a different experience at different pharmacies. But either way, it’s best to get a shot and if you have a question about what is most appropriate for you based on your age, you should consult your physician.

I did receive a senior flu shot at CVS using the VNSNY voucher.

So as Marian indicated, we did have an employee who was able to get a senior flu shot with the voucher. So obviously stores are implementing their policies differently.

Can HR just email the flu voucher as an attachment please? I can’t open the link and I’m getting anxious to get to CVS and get the flu shot.

Marian Haas: Thank you. We can email some of the flu vouchers to staff. The CVS flu voucher does come directly from CVS so when you click on that link you will see a message that it will be emailed to you from CVS, not from VNSNY. If you have any problems or you need some guidance in accessing those vouchers online, please call Ask HR, or HR connect, and they can go through it with you step by step.

We’ve received a lot of feedback that once people see where the link is and they have the right connection, can download it pretty easily. But we’re there to support you and answer any questions. And for those folks from Partners in Care who are on the phone call, please call the Partners contact center or the Partners HR department and they will assist you as well.

When can we expect to get a flu shot voucher? I requested one last week.

Marian Haas: Yes. The vouchers that you would request would be coming from CVS as I explained. And other vouchers can be downloaded directly through the link. This question actually came in earlier today and we did follow up with the individual who asked it. And she was able to access the vouchers directly through the link with the help from HR Connect.

So as I said, please use that resource if you’re having any issues with receiving the vouchers. She had not actually requested a voucher from what we could tell when we contacted her. So please reach out to us for technical support, and use those links to get the voucher – they should work very well for everyone.

HR Policies / Pay and PTO Policies

This relates to payroll tax holiday. Please advise if VNSNY plans to participate in this program that was initiated September 1st as per the executive order by Donald Trump. I believe that employers do not have to inform employees before participating. The program reduces the Social Security payroll tax from September through December 2020. However, employees will then be responsible to make up that deferred payroll tax starting January 1st, which could greatly increase the amount of taxes deducted starting in January. If VNSNY plans to participate please send out a corporate communication and allow employees the option to opt out. 

Marian Haas: Yes. We did look into this executive order and we made the decision not to participate in this plan. We will be getting out an announcement to staff based upon the two questions that came in, in connection to this today. But VNSNY will not be participating in this plan. And you will continue to have your Social Security payroll tax deducted and paid as normal.

I am an RN Care Manager who works with the Population Health Department. However, I received the annual flu shot at CVS pharmacy already. What else should I do at this point?

So I’m glad you asked this question because so many people are getting their flu shots at Duane Reade or Walgreen’s or CVS or through their own physician. And please remember to submit the documentation – proof of vaccination to our health services. Marian, could you guide people on how to best do that so that we have a record that they have received their flu shot?

Marian Haas: Absolutely. If you are a Partners in Care employee you should mail it to the Partners In Care Health Services Department at 220 East 42nd Street or fax it to (212) 290-3184. There’s also an email address [email protected]. This information is posted on the flu site on both the VNSNY intranet or the Partners In Care Frontline. https://vnsny.sharepoint.com/HR/humanresources/fighttheflu/default.aspx You will have access to this information there. This is a very important final step to getting your flu shot.

For VNSNY employees, and the person who asked this question is included in that group, you can submit it via Ask HR on HR Connect or fax it to (212) 290-4646. Or email it to [email protected] Again, check out the flu banner on the intranet or on the Frontline page for Partners, and you’ll see the information that I just shared.

Return to Work

It’s been stated on multiple calls that accommodations will be taken into consideration for childcare, children returning to school and remote learning environments. I am part of a department that was required to come back to the office three days a week and unfortunately, an accommodation request for one less day was denied. I just want to know how accommodations are being considered.

So before I turn this back to Marian, I just wanted to clarify that when we said we will try to make accommodations, it’s wherever possible. A lot of this depends on the role that you’re in and the work that needs to be done and our ability to make sure that that work gets done. So whether you’re a field staff member or you’re in a support area where the work that you do requires that you be in the office, then our ability to offer an accommodation may be limited. So now I’ll turn it over to Marian to see if there’s anything she’d like to add on this.

Marian Haas: I would just add what the process is for requesting an accommodation. There is an accommodation request available through Workday. It’s the same place where you go in to submit your daily health screening if you’re completing those forms. You submit your request for childcare accommodation through the accommodations panel there, the request then comes to HR and we work with your supervisor and your program head or department head, to consider what the situation is and what the needs of the department or program are.

All of the things that Marki just described come into play in connection with whether we can grant you an accommodation or some sort of flexibility can be made. Each request is looked at on a case by case basis with an HR rep and the department involvement. Hopefully that helps to explain the process we use for considering accommodations.

What are the options for an employee who is over 65 years old and loves her job but is concerned about going back to the office and making home visits?

So this is a challenge because we appreciate that you love your job and I understand the concern that you may have, but if the role that you’re in requires that you make home visits it’s very hard to make an accommodation that does not enable you to make home visits. So unless there’s a different role that might be available for you as an employee, all I would say is that we do have plenty of PPE and you’re able to take advantage of that PPE to keep protected and safe. So Marian or Andria, anything you’d like to add to this?

Marian Haas: I would just add that as an individual you might want to consult with your physician or your healthcare provider to talk about your specific situation and what the risks are that you face by making home visits with the proper PPE that is available to you. The situation for each individual, regardless of age or personal risk factors you may have, is something that has to be considered probably with the best information you can get from your physician or healthcare provider.

 Patient Care and Clinical

How do we respond to our hospice patients about when we will be able to administer flu shots to them at home?

Andria Castellanos, Chief of Provider Services: So we also have not yet received flu vaccines for our patients. So as soon as we do we will communicate with you and we will let you know what the process is in order to administer flu vaccines to your hospice patients. So we’ll be in touch with you very soon about that. Thank you.

I have a congregate site which requires VNSNY nurses to have their weekly COVID testing to enter these types of buildings. City MD takes time to go for testing and test results may take up to five days or more. Is the VNSNY 220 East 42nd Street office having any plans to provide COVID rapid testing available for staff that requires weekly testing, so we don’t have to go to an outside clinic?

Andria Castellanos: So we are looking into collaborating with both the state and the federal government on different kinds of rapid testing that will be acceptable and available in New York State. We have not yet successfully coordinated that with either the state or the federal government or any private organization that’s out there. We do understand that this is a burden on our staff that must get tested weekly, and we understand that the turnaround times for places like City MD can be five to seven days.

Right now we are recommending health and hospital corporation sites as they do have many sites – I think they have 60 or 70 sites – and the wait time is less, and the turnaround times appear to be 24 to 48 hours in those sites. So we continue to work on this to try to reduce the burden on our staff and we’ll continue to communicate with you about where we are when we have better solutions for our staff.

So patients inquiring why other agencies are using temporal thermometers, they cost $15.00 to $20.00 each, and VNSNY is not. Went to the office to get COVID kit and was informed no gloves are being given with kits anymore. Why? Also, the limit of thermometer covers given at a time is 20. This limited amount calls for frequent visits to the office and field staffing is limited.

Michael Bernstein: With respect to gloves, and you may have heard in some of the other conference calls, gloves themselves have become one of the PPE items that have become more and more difficult to source. Gloves are not part of the COVID kit currently, due to sizing — we want to make sure that we’re distributing the right sizes. So if you are a clinician and you request a specific size of the bag room, you’ll be able to get gloves that fit you and gloves that are the right size.

With regard to thermometers, we have 1000 thermometers in stock, but they are not the temporal ones. We have disposable ones. And there was a decision made earlier on during this crisis time period to provide the disposable ones and that’s where we are right now. Tony, is there anything you want to add to what I said?

Tony Dawson, Vice President for Quality and Customer Experience: We decided to stay with the disposable thermometers from an infection control perspective. And that was with the suggestion from the clinical staff versus reusing a thermometer and then having to be cleaning that between patients. So we’re going to stay with the disposable thermometers for now.

**Note: As a result of this question, our infectious disease control team re-assessed the use of temporal thermometers and determined that there remains too much risk associated with their use; as such, we will continue providing disposable thermometers.

Administrative

I would like to thank the leadership for sending us the beautiful Heroes pin. This is such a beautiful pin and a very thoughtful and appreciative gesture that gives us added pride to be part of this wonderful organization. I will add this pin to my other collection of VNSNY pins. I feel like a soldier being honored. Thank you very much.

And I thank you for sharing your lovely thoughts and comments with us. It means a lot to hear the impact that the pin made on you. I know for me personally, the pin is very special and something I cherish. And I’m glad to hear that you and others feel the same way.

Have all the pins been sent out? Because I never received my pin.

So I’m really sorry that this person did not receive their pin. And so Marian, what should people do if they have not received their pin?

Marian Haas: If they have not received their pin they should contact HR Connect or the Partners HR department and we can make sure that one is sent to you directly.