Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital Bi-Weekly Update, Sept. 23, 2020.

Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital Bi-Weekly Update, Sept. 23, 2020.

LUDINGTON — Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital provides a bi-weekly community update regarding activities and current information. Some content will be related to the COVID-19 pandemic as new information becomes available or changes occur. Other content will be general information related to Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital.

For the latest COVID-19 information, visit spectrumhealth.org/covid-19. The dashboard below reflects the 16-county region served by Spectrum Health. Local information can be found on the District Health Department #10 web site at www.dhd10.org.

As of Monday, September 21, 2020:

COVID-19 positive cases. There have been 117 confirmed cases in Mason County, 487 in Oceana County, 65 in Manistee County and 31 in Lake County. Confirmed cases will be reported through District Health Department #10. As of September 8, there have been 10,245 specimens collected at Ludington Hospital, with 2,318 of those tested in the Ludington Hospital laboratory and the remainder tested at the Spectrum Health laboratory in Grand Rapids. Of those tested, 332 have had a positive result, indicating a 3.24% positive rate.

Fighting Cancer with Philanthropy.  The Rod Beckman Cancer Charity Golf Outing was held Saturday, September 19 at Lincoln Hills Golf Club and raised over $15,000 for two local cancer charities, the Spectrum Health Cancer Patient Assistance Fund and the Ludington Optimist Club Childhood Cancer Campaign. We thank Traci Beckman and others who spearhead this event and all of the participants. These local organizations assist families by providing needed funding support to help with expenses such as utilities, transportation, mortgage payments, lodging, groceries, vehicle maintenance, etc.

Many of the children diagnosed locally with cancer receive care at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, part of Spectrum Health. Recently, Dick and Ethie Haworth, who have been supporters of HDVCH, provided gifts that will transform children’s cancer care there. Start up funding and an endowment has been provided for an Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Services Program, as well as for the James Fahner, MD Endowed Division Chief for Pediatric Hematology/Oncology position. This is the first endowed division chief ever created at Spectrum Health. The children’s cancer program at HDVCH wil now be named the Ethie Haworth Children’s Cancer Center.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Community Grand Rounds September 24.  Join award winning medical writer Harriet Washington for an online community conversation presentation about medical myths regarding race and systemic inequalities in health care. Washington will address health vulnerabilities of people of color triggered by the environmental racism and infectious disease biases of the recent pandemic. The talk will illustrate how we can change the system and influence policies that advocate fairness and aim to overcome structural racism. The presentation will be Thursday, September 24, from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Please Register to attend.

Supporting our schools. Spectrum Health continues to seek ways to support our area schools. Informative materials, videos, and instruction have been issued to area districts as well as the Spectrum Health web site resource page for schools:  https://www.spectrumhealth.org/covid19/school-resources. We continue to evaluate and seek ways we can support the health of our community during the pandemic. 

Wear. Wait. Wash. Spectrum Health is continuing to promote its Wear/Wait/Wash campaign asking visitors to wear a mask, wait six feet apart, and wash their hands often to promote good public health. Several community residents are participating by telling why they believe it’s important to wear a mask.

Walk-In clinic relocated. The Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital Walk-In Clinic has moved to 922 Lawndale Avenue in Ludington, located within the Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital Family Medicine Clinic. This is a permanent location change for the walk-in clinic. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. Evening and Saturday hours will start again soon.

Culinary Medicine program beginning September 22; next session October 20 taking registrations. Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital has partnered with District Health Department #10 and Culinary Medicine at Spectrum Health to bring culinary medicine to Mason and Oceana County residents. Two sessions will be available, focusing on the powerful influence food has on health.

The first session of classes will be held September 22, September 29, October 6 and October 13. The second session will be October 20, October 27, November 3, and November 10. Each class is two hours in length, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The fee is $25 per session, which includes all four classes and food needed for each class. The two sessions feature identical programming and recipes. Spaces are limited, so register soon! To register, go to https://www.onlineregistrationcenter.com/register/341-5718. For information or questions, please call 231.845.2222.

About Spectrum Health
Spectrum Health System, a not-for-profit, integrated health system, is committed to improving the health and wellness of our communities. We live our mission every day with 31,000 compassionate professionals, 4,600 medical staff experts, 3,300 committed volunteers and a health plan serving 1 million members. Our talented physicians and caregivers are privileged to offer a full continuum of care and wellness services to our communities through 14 hospitals, including Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, 150 ambulatory sites and telehealth offerings. We pursue health care solutions for today and tomorrow that diversify our offerings. Locally-governed and based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, our health system provided $585 million in community benefit in fiscal year 2019. Thanks to the generosity of our communities, we received $30 million in philanthropy in the most recent fiscal year to support research, academics, innovation and clinical care. Spectrum Health has been recognized as one of the nation’s 15 Top Health Systems by Truven Health Analytics, part of IBM Watson Health.

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