Local Healthcare Systems Join Forces on Masking Campaign

Media Contacts:
Todd McGovern: William.Mcgovern@hcahealthcare.com | 703-689-9030
Renee Brohard: Renee.Brohard@Inova.org | 540-454-3493
Susan Tulino: stulino@novanthealth.org | 703-338-4142
Maryanne Boster: mboster@virginiahospitalcenter.com | 703-558-6581
 
 

Local Healthcare Systems Join Forces on Masking Campaign
 
Area health systems take collective action to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and support the health of communities

Reston, Va., August 12, 2020 – In a first-of-its-kind public service campaign, four of the region’s leading healthcare organizations joined forces in the fight against COVID-19 to support a simple, yet effective, message for people in the region: Wear a mask.
 
“Wear a mask” is a public service campaign, set to launch Aug. 12, featuring print, digital, and social media messages in English and Spanish encouraging the public to wear masks.
 
COVID-19 remains a huge risk according to chief medical officers at HCA Northern Virginia including Dominion, Reston, and Stone Springs Hospitals, Inova Health System, Novant Health UVA Health System, and Virginia Hospital Center. They agree surges occur in communities when masks are not worn in outdoor and indoor public spaces where people gather, as evidenced in other parts of the country.

“We are in this battle against COVID-19 together,” said Thomas Taghon, DO, chief medical officer, Reston Hospital Center. “It doesn’t matter your political affiliation, what you do for a living, who you work for, where you live, or how much money you have, COVID-19 is an equal opportunist when it comes to infecting people.”
 
Recent studies in Health Affairs, The Lancet and other medical journals, compared the growth rate of
COVID-19 before and after mask adoption. They show mask adoption led to a significant slowdown in daily COVID-19 growth rates over time. Internationally, countries that embraced wearing masks or mandated them have had significantly lower infection and death rates due to COVID-19.
 
“In Northern Virginia, we are succeeding, which is one of the reasons we have been able to progress to Phase 3,” said Stephen J. Motew, MD, chief, clinical enterprise, Inova Health System. “Infection and death rates in the region have remained stable and relatively low, but we are not out of the woods.”

For hospitals and their frontline medical teams treating COVID-19 patients, prevention remains critical in fighting this pandemic. While healthcare workers continue to fight COVID-19 inside hospital walls, they are relying on the public to do their part by wearing masks, using good hand hygiene and social distancing.

“Science has proven that masks are effective in slowing the transmission of the virus,” said Zan Zaidi, MD, clinical physician executive, Novant Health UVA Health System. “We see this in communities where mask adoption has been embraced — statistics show a reduction in death and infection.”

Clinical leaders at Inova Health System, Novant Health UVA Health System, HCA Northern Virginia, and Virginia Hospital Center all agree that wearing masks, washing hands and social distancing is working.
 
“We cannot let our guard down,” said Jeffrey DiLisi, MD, senior vice president and chief medical officer, Virginia Hospital Center. “We must keep at it, to protect one another and ourselves from a virus for which there is not yet a vaccine or a cure.”

About HCA Virginia  
As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive provider network, HCA Virginia Health System operates 14 hospitals, 29 outpatient centers, five freestanding emergency rooms, and two urgent care centers and is affiliated with 3,000 physicians. It is one of Virginia’s largest employers, provides $190.8 million in charity and uncompensated care and pays $72.6 million in taxes annually. HCA Northern Virginia includes Dominion Hospital, Reston Hospital Center and StoneSprings Hospital Center.

About Inova Health System
Inova is Northern Virginia’s leading nonprofit healthcare provider, recognized in 2019 and 2020 by U.S. News & World Report, which named Inova Fairfax Hospital the #1 hospital in the Washington, DC region. All five Inova hospitals were awarded ‘A’ grades for the spring 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, recognizing Inova’s achievements in protecting patients from harm and providing safer healthcare. Each of Inova’s five hospitals holds a 5-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), distinguishing Inova as the highest-rated large health system in the U.S., and the only system to have all hospitals receive five stars. Inova Fairfax Medical Campus was named to the Fortune/IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals list, ranking in the top 10 nationwide among Major Teaching Hospitals. Our mission is to provide world-class healthcare – every time, every touch – to each person in every community we have the privilege to serve. Inova’s 18,000 team members serve more than 2 million individuals annually through an integrated network of hospitals, primary and specialty care practices, emergency and urgent care centers, outpatient services, and destination institutes. Inova is home to Northern Virginia’s only Level 1 Trauma Center and Level 4 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Its hospitals have a total of 1,800 licensed beds. More information and statistics about Inova can be found at www.inova.org.
 
About Novant Health UVA Health System
Novant Health UVA Health System is an integrated network of physician offices, outpatient centers and medical centers providing patients access to advanced, quality care delivered with a personal touch. Founded in 2016,
the regional Health System is a partnership between Novant Health and UVA Health System that provides subspecialty care and groundbreaking clinical trials — with the support of UVA Health System — along with urgent and primary care in Virginia. Headquartered in Warrenton, Va., Novant Health UVA Health System is committed to providing quality care close to home. For more information, please visit our website at
NovantHealthUVA.org or follow Novant Health UVA Health System on Facebook and Twitter.
 
About Virginia Hospital Center
Virginia Hospital Center has provided exceptional medical services to the Washington, DC metropolitan area for
75 years and was recently designated a Newsweek 2020 Best Maternity Care Hospital, received a 5-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and once again named a Leapfrog Top Hospital in 2019. The hospital is a proud member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network – a national network of independent healthcare organizations. Virginia Hospital Center is a 394-bed not-for-profit, teaching facility, and it is designated as a Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.