LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 16, 2020) After receiving the Pfizer vaccine shipment on Tuesday morning at UK Chandler Hospital, five emergency department employees were the first to receive the vaccine about four hours later. In about a week, 1,950 front-line health care workers who either take care of COVID-19 patients or who are exposed to patients being ruled out for the virus, will receive the first dose of the two-dose vaccine.
UK HealthCare s allotment of the vaccine is among nearly 12,000 doses available in this week’s initial rollout for Kentucky’s health care workers.
This comes after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an emergency use authorization (EUA) Dec. 11 for the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, making it the first-ever approved vaccine ready to administer in the fight against COVID-19.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 14, 2020) Miles from UK HealthCare’s intensive care units ICUs), in a room with as many computer monitors as a NASA command center, a team of critical care nurses examine patients’ vital signs, review lab results and assist care teams with urgent assessments.
UK HealthCare’s Enhanced Care through Advanced Technology Intensive Care Unit (eCAT ICU), the only program of its kind in Kentucky, began last spring but more recently moved to a new permanent home off Alumni Drive in Lexington.
Royal Philips, a global leader in health technology, and UK HealthCare announced a collaboration to create the clinical command center for tele-critical care earlier this year. Using Philips’ acute telehealth platform, eCareManager, analytics and AI are used to synthesize patient data and deliver insights to support care. This means that although they are miles from their patients, UK HealthCare’s eCAT ICU team uses advanced surveillance technology to monitor pati
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LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 11, 2020) It takes a village.
You generally hear this phrase used to describe raising children. UK HealthCare surgeon Dr. Rajasekhar Malyala uses it to describe saving a patient from COVID-19. “It is hands-on, intensive care,” he said. “It is a labor of love, especially on the part of the nursing and respiratory staff who are putting their lives at risk doing this.”
Treating a COVID-19 patient is particularly risky when they require advanced support, like a ventilator or, in dire cases, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
Demetrius Booker, 40, of La Grange, Kentucky, was one of those dire cases. He was transferred to UK Chandler Hospital in July after contracting COVID-19. “Demetrius came to us on very advanced life support,” Malyala said. “He was on a ventilator with a breathing tube and was heavily sedated. He was not conscious or aware of what was happening to him.”