District hospitals, like their counterparts throughout the region and country, are seeing unprecedented high volumes of patients throughout the hospital system. Our members and their incredibly dedicated teams of nurses, doctors and ancillary staff members are working around the clock to ensure every patient receives the care they need as quickly as possible.

As we enter the third winter of the pandemic, COVID-19, RSV and flu cases are increasing and the District’s hospitals encourage all residents to get their annual flu shot as well as the most recent COVID booster. Vaccinations are key tools to keep residents safe, healthy, and less likely to need hospital care. During this holiday season, individuals should wear masks, especially during large gatherings and perform COVID testing before and after gatherings to help reduce transmission of COVID-19.

Hospitals are also seeing a high number of visitors in the city’s emergency rooms. It is critical for residents to use the emergency rooms in the right way. Emergency rooms should be used for serious conditions, such as chest pain or difficulty breathing, weakness or numbness on one side, slurred speech, broken bones, or bleeding that won’t stop. Individuals experiencing fever, mild or moderate flu-like symptoms, sore throat, sprains and strains or other minor conditions should consider visiting their nearest urgent care center or schedule an appointment with their primary care doctor or a telehealth provider. Increased use of urgent care will ensure residents most in need of emergency care can access it. Most of our member hospitals offer virtual and/or on-demand telehealth visits from the comfort of your home or wherever you may be, using a phone, tablet, or computer.

 

 

The role of the Senior Data Analyst is to foster the work of the Association and the Association’s members through complex data exploration, analytics program design, analytics and reporting in support of priorities for improvement and strategic goals. The Senior Health Data Analyst is also responsible for participation in the identification, collection, analysis, visualization, monitoring and reporting of industry data, statistics and related information which will enhance the Association’s ability to serve its members.

Kaufman Hall experts said that 2022 is shaping up to be the worst year financially for U.S. hospitals and health systems since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitals and health systems saw decreases in outpatient revenue and operating room time and increases in inpatient lengths of stay from June to July, according to Kaufman Hall’s most recent National Hospital Flash Report released yesterday. Hospitals hired more aggressively in July, but labor was still in high demand and prices rose accordingly. Sicker patients also stayed in the hospital longer, driving up costs. The report also stated that an increasing number of patients continue to choose ambulatory centers over hospital settings for surgical procedures, which is a “sign of a larger shift to ambulatory care and new ways of accessing care outside of the hospital.”