Hospitals prepare for the arrival of swine flu

As people look for strategies to keep themselves from coming down with swine flu, hospitals too are developing plans so personnel don't become vulnerable to H1N1 influenza.

Promotions, public education and other measures to get employees inoculated have been used in the fight against regular flu, said Louise Broomfield, director of environmental safety and emergency preparedness at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center.

Similar strategies will be used for H1N1 influenza, she said.

The hospital will try to make it "as convenient and accessible as possible" for hospital personnel to have a swine flu shot, she said.

That means offering it at employee safety fairs and at every available opportunity, Broomfield said.

Although the H1N1 vaccine is not expected to be available for several weeks hospitals plan to use strategies that have been successful to get staff inoculated during a regular flu season.

Kaiser Permanente medical centers in Ontario and Fontana hold large employee health events to offer flu vaccinations, said Jennifer Resch-Silvestri, spokeswoman for Kaiser Permanente, San Bernardino County.

Senior executives have set the example for employees by being vaccinated, she said.

Flu vaccines are also provide with the help of roaming flu vaccine carts that go to individual departments and even staff meetings to offer the inoculation, Resch-Silvestri said.

"We make it as easy and convenient to receive flu vaccines," she said.

The result is an 80 percent vaccination rate, Resch-Silvestri said.

During 2008-2009 flu season 44 percent of Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center's staff were inoculated, said Kathy Perkins, hospital spokeswoman.

Vaccination is not mandatory and industry standards consider a 30 percent inoculation rate good, she said.

At San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland 49 percent of its staff received the flu vaccine last year, said hospital spokeswoman Wendy Richardson.

Part of the hospital's strategy involves going to staff members with the vaccine instead of waiting for them to seek it out, administrators said.

In busy departments a healthcare professional working there is designated to vaccinate personnel at the employee's convenience, said Karen Drinkwine, the hospital's director of epidemiology.

"We feel that will increase our participation level," said Lynn Kelly, the hospital's vice president of human resources.

Some concerns exist among the population that a swine flu vaccine may have side effects.

To address such concerns San Antonio's highly respected infectious disease specialist, Dr. Sohan Bassi, will be available to answer questions, Drinkwine said.

In years when unusual flu strains develop, people tend to be more interested in being vaccinated, Broomfield said.

"With H1N1 people are going to be looking at being vaccinated more than with the regular flu," she said. "The workforce is going to take it more seriously than the regular flu."

She predicts the same will be true for those working in the healthcare field.

So far hospitals are still waiting for notification from federal and county health officials as to when the swine flu vaccine will be available.

Because there is a question as to how much vaccine will be available, the Pomona hospital will have a priority list to determine which of their 2,000 employees must have the vaccine, Broomfield said.

The decision-making process will take into account what staff members have greater chances of being exposed to the H1N1 flu, she said.

Staff working with patients would have priority over those who do not, Broomfield said.

At this point it is still not known how strong or weak the swine flu strain will be this season.

Either way it will probably drive up the number of people seeking care this season, Broomfield said.

If H1N1 turns out to be strong, hospitals can expect a jump in in-patient populations, and a mild version "will cause a challenge with numbers."

People concerned they may have the flu will probably rush to emergency rooms to be checked out resulting in large numbers seeking care, Broomfield said.

In the past the hospital has had spikes in emergency room visits when uncommon health conditions surface and people feared having contracted it, she said.

Controlling such situations can be done if the media helps educate the public about H1N1 influenza, Broomfield said.

Whether swine flu turns out to be mild or strong, hospitals will be ready, Kelly said.

"You have plans for additional resources," she said.