CHRISTUS Good Shepherd COVID-19 Vaccination Hub Clinic Postponed

The CHRISTUS Good Shepherd COVID-19 Vaccination Hub Clinic scheduled for this weekend, Feb. 20 & 21, is being postponed due to a vaccine shipment delay caused by Winter Storm Uri.

Those with an appointment scheduled for Feb. 20 & 21 will be automatically rescheduled for the same time slot on the dates below, and no action on their part is needed at this time:

• Saturday, Feb. 20 (2nd dose appointments) will be rescheduled for Friday, Mar. 5
• Sunday, Feb. 21 (1st dose appointments) will be rescheduled for Sunday, Mar. 7

Beginning this evening, individuals will receive a text or phone call alerting them of their new appointment. If you are unable to participate on the rescheduled dates and wish to cancel your appointment, please call 877-335-5746.

Individuals will also receive a text, phone or email confirmation of their new appointment 72 hours prior to their appointment. When these confirmations are received, individuals may also confirm or cancel their appointment at that time.

We want to reassure those affected that rescheduling the Feb. 20 second dose appointments for Mar. 5 is still in keeping with current CDC guidelines for administering the Pfizer vaccine. If it is not feasible to adhere to the recommended 21-day interval, the second dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines may be administered up to six weeks (42 days) after the first dose and still be effective.

CHRISTUS Good Shepherd, alongside our partners Gregg County, City of Longview and the State of Texas, appreciate everyone’s patience and flexibility as our teams work diligently and as swiftly as possible to modify Hub Clinic operations in response to the winter storm.

January 26, 2021

Available Appointment Update

In less than its first full day of operation, nearly 14,000 people scheduled their appointments at the CHRISTUS Good Shepherd COVID-19 Vaccination Hub in Longview, with more than 30,000 people each hour visiting vaccinate.christushealth.org.

Due to this incredible demand for vaccines across Northeast Texas, all currently scheduled appointments for the upcoming CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Vaccination Hub site in Gregg County have been filled through the first 4 weekends. However, the State is scheduled to replenish vaccine supply, and additional appointments will be added as we move forward.

Along with our community partners at Gregg County and the City of Longview, CHRISTUS Good Shepherd is thankful for the opportunity to provide this large-scale vaccination clinic to the public and grateful for your patience and support as we continue to serve this community.

For more information please visit vaccinate.christushealth.org.

January 25, 2021

CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System Designated Regional COVID-19 Vaccination Hub

CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System has been named a COVID-19 Vaccination Hub by the State of Texas to serve Gregg County. This COVID-19 Vaccination Hub clinic is in partnership with Gregg County, the State of Texas and City of Longview. Today we jointly announce the launch of the community-wide My Shot Now campaign to vaccinate as many eligible East Texans as possible.

“In an effort to make the COVID-19 vaccine more accessible to East Texans, CHRISTUS Good Shepherd is honored to accept the responsibility of fulfilling this need for our community,” said Todd Hancock, President and Chief Executive Officer, CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System. “Our goal has always been for the community to be able to easily get a COVID-19 vaccination as soon as large quantities of vaccine were available.”

“This clinic, once again, shows there is nothing Gregg County can't do when we work together,” said Gregg County Judge Bill Stoudt. “With CHRISTUS Good Shepherd bringing its medical expertise, and Longview and Gregg County Emergency Management overseeing the process, I am confident the opening of this clinic will be a watershed moment in our region's battle against COVID-19.”

Beginning this Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021, caregivers from CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System and CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic, alongside Gregg County and City of Longview first responders, will operate a weekend clinic to administer vaccines to those who meet the criteria for Phase 1A or Phase 1B. The vaccine is free to the public, and an appointment is required in order to receive the vaccine, which will be administered at the Longview Exhibit Center at the Longview Convention Complex.

CHRISTUS Good Shepherd and Gregg County officials expect to vaccinate thousands of East Texans each weekend and to continue receiving regular, weekly allocations from the State for the foreseeable future.

“I am thrilled that we were able to successfully present to our contacts with the state that our regional collaborative effort is capable and ready to serve as a vaccine hub. Having an aggressive effort to provide vaccines to our residents is critical to moving our community forward and saving lives,” said State Representative Jay Dean, District 7.

"I get calls every day asking when a vaccine will be available, and we are so glad to be able to begin providing this amount of shots with our great partners," Longview Mayor Andy Mack said. "This clinic will be a game-changer for our area - making our region safer, protecting the most vulnerable, and enabling our community to get back to normal life."

The vaccinations are occurring by appointment only – walk-in and waitlist appointments are not available. To swiftly accommodate the state’s requirement to deplete the current allotment, CHRISTUS Good Shepherd is directing patients to make an appointment by visiting vaccinate.christushealth.org and answering the questions in the chat box on the right of the screen. Patients may also call the following dedicated phone line for information and registration for a vaccination appointment at this hub vaccination clinic: (877) 335-5746.

Once an appointment has been made, individuals are asked to adhere to the clinic operational guidelines to support the efficiency and safety of the caregivers and other community residents alike:

• Please arrive no more than 15 minutes early and remain in your vehicle until 5 minutes before your appointment time.
• Only those being vaccinated may attend the clinic, except for those who need assistance. Those who cannot come alone to their appointment may bring 1 essential visitor.
• Wear loose fitting clothes, for ease in accessing your shoulder to administer the vaccine.
• Masks are required. Please bring your own mask.

“It is the mission of CHRISTUS Health to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ, to provide care to those in our communities who need it most, to provide care for the most vulnerable,” said Hancock. “Alongside our partners, we are excited to take this enormous step toward vaccinating as many eligible members of this community as quickly and safely as possible.”

January 20, 2021

CHRISTUS Good Shepherd to Take Part in Crucial COVID-19 Treatment Trial

CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System is one of more than 50 health organizations around the world to participate in a National Institutes of Health (NIH) clinical trial to test the safety, tolerability and efficacy of a combination treatment regimen for COVID-19. The regimen consists of the antiviral drug remdesivir and a highly concentrated solution of antibodies that has been shown in laboratory studies to neutralize the virus that causes COVID-19.

The antibody treatment employed in this trial is anti-coronavirus hyperimmune intravenous immunoglobulin, or hIVIG. These antibodies are highly purified and concentrated, containing several times more neutralizing antibodies than typically found in the plasma of people who have recovered from COVID-19.

“Our Research Institute is continuing to lead regional efforts to research novel treatment options for COVID-19,” said Pukar Ratti, System Director for Research and Academics. “We are thrilled to be the only area hospital to offer our patients the opportunity to participate in the clinical trial of this investigational blood-based therapy”.

“The hope is by giving patients anti-coronavirus hIVIG at the onset of symptoms, it will augment the body’s natural response to the virus, thereby reducing the risk of more serious illness and death,” said Sreenath Meegada, M.D., CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic Hospitalist and Principal Investigator for CHRISTUS Good Shepherd. “This trial will help determine if combining this investigational drug with remdesivir can help stamp out the virus in the early stages of COVID-19.”

The NIH clinical trial is enrolling 500 hospitalized adults who have had COVID-19 symptoms for 12 days or fewer, and do not have life-threatening organ dysfunction or organ failure. Study participants are being randomly assigned to receive back-to-back infusions of either investigational anti-coronavirus hIVIG and remdesivir or a placebo and remdesivir. Neither the participants nor the study team will know who is receiving which treatment regimen until the end of the trial. Study participants are being followed for 28 days. More information about this clinical trial can be found at Inpatient Treatment With Anti-Coronavirus Immunoglobulin (ITAC) - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov.

“We are proud that CHRISTUS Good Shepherd is taking a leading role in what is truly an international effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Todd Hancock, Chief Executive Officer, CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System.

December 9, 2020

CHRISTUS Health Systems Prepare for COVID Vaccine Distribution to Health Care Workers in Northeast Texas

CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances, CHRISTUS Good Shepherd and CHRISTUS St. Michael Health Systems are preparing to receive, manage and distribute the COVID-19 vaccine internally to health care workers in the coming days and weeks.

“The use of vaccines has been a key part of combatting and even eradicating certain diseases for generations, and we are confident the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective,” said Mark Anderson, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic in Northeast Texas. “Though there is still a way to go, this process hopefully represents the beginning of the end of COVID-19.”

CHRISTUS Health has a well-established process in place for reviewing the safety and efficacy of new drugs that is being utilized to evaluate any COVID-19 vaccines that receive emergency use authorization (EUA) by the FDA.

“Our COVID-19 Taskforce is evaluating and planning for the storage and distribution of a vaccine across our ministries, including at CHRISTUS ministries across Northeast Texas, while following the guidance of clinical experts and the frameworks distributed by the Catholic Health Association, Centers for Disease Control, and State Health agencies,” said David Benner PharmD, MS, MHA, FACHE, Vice President, Clinical Ancillary Services for the Division of Clinical Excellence at CHRISTUS Health.

The COVID-19 vaccine will be available to all health care workers at CHRISTUS facilities in Northeast Texas, but is not mandatory. Similar to many vaccines, the COVID-19 vaccine will be given in two doses: an initial injection and then a booster shot, normally 21-28 days later (depending on the vaccine administered). Research from the pharmaceutical company and CHRISTUS Health’s COVID-19 Task Force indicates minor side effects similar to the flu shot, such as low-grade fever and redness or slight pain at the injection site are possible.

“CHRISTUS Health has a plan, and we are working through it to ensure that our facilities, Associates and medical staff are prepared to receive, store and distribute COVID-19 vaccines as soon as they become available,” said Sam Bagchi, M.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer, CHRISTUS Health. “We are confident in our ability to participate in the vaccine distribution and our ability to offer vaccination to all CHRISTUS health care workers who wish to receive it.”

July 15, 2020

City of Kilgore and CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System Partner to Offer COVID Screening

The City of Kilgore and CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System are partnering to offer COVID-19 screening at the CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Emergency Center - Kilgore beginning Thursday, July 16.

Using funds provided under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) program, the City of Kilgore recently acquired a mobile operations unit, which for now will serve as a mobile COVID-19 screening center. The mobile center will be staffed by professionals from CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System and Kilgore Fire Department, with assistance from Kilgore College School of Nursing students.

The mobile screening will be set up Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., at CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Emergency Center - Kilgore, 1612 S. Henderson Blvd. No appointment is necessary. The mobile screening service is being offered free of charge to Kilgore city residents, with the cost covered by CARES funds. For non-residents, the screening is available for $60 or it can be filed on your insurance.

“We are excited to partner with CHRISTUS to bring this service to our community in these difficult times. CHRISTUS has long been our partner as well as our primary health care provider in Kilgore and we are more than appreciative that they have offered to assist our community in this way,” said Kilgore City Manager Josh Selleck.

“Please consider participating in the screening only if you are experiencing any two of the following symptoms: fever, shortness of breath, cough, fatigue, loss of sense of smell or taste, chills, shaking with chills, muscle or body aches, headache, sore throat, nasal congestion, nausea or diarrhea or if you have been exposed to a person with suspected or confirmed COVID symptoms,” said Faber White, M.D., Interim Chief Medical Officer, CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System.

Clinicians will screen for circulating antibodies against the coronavirus in your bloodstream. Antibodies are generated by the body as part of an immune response against disease.

“An individual with COVID-19 antibodies has usually been exposed to COVID-19 in the past and could have an active COVID-19 infection. Antibodies can usually be detected in a person’s blood one to three weeks after an exposure to COVID-19. When patients visit the site, a single tube of blood is drawn and sent for screening,” explained Dr. White. “We will then call you, to share your test results within the next 90 minutes.”

CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System Offering COVID-19 Screening at NorthPark Drive-Through ER

CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System is now offering COVID-19 screening at CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Emergency Center – NorthPark located at 323 E Hawkins Pkwy, next door to the CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Institute for Healthy Living.

The COVID-19 antibody screening will be conducted in the NorthPark Drive-Through ER service, which is available daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. The screening is $60, or it can be filed on a patient’s insurance. Patients are asked to bring their driver’s license or state-issued ID, and their insurance information.

“Please consider participating in the screening only if you are experiencing any two of the following symptoms: fever, shortness of breath, cough, fatigue, loss of sense of smell or taste, chills, shaking with chills, muscle or body aches, headache, sore throat, nasal congestion, nausea or diarrhea or if you have been exposed to a person with suspected or confirmed COVID symptoms,” said Faber White, M.D., Interim Chief Medical Officer, CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System.

Clinicians will screen for circulating antibodies against the coronavirus in your bloodstream. Antibodies are generated by the body as part of an immune response against the disease.

“An individual with COVID-19 antibodies has usually been exposed to COVID-19 in the past and could have an active COVID-19 infection. Antibodies can usually be detected in a person’s blood one to three weeks after an exposure to COVID-19. When patients visit the site, a single tube of blood is drawn and sent for screening,” explained Dr. White. “We will then call you, to share your test results within the next 90 minutes.”

April 29, 2020

Universal Masking

Effective 5/4: To make sure we continue to follow the CDC's recommendation for Universal Masking; we are asking all patients, visitors and employees to wear a mask while visiting our facilities.

Homemade cloth masks are appropriate for visiting our clinics, you can follow instructions to make a safe mask here.

We are committed to ensuring that our clinics continue to be a safe place to receive care – we appreciate your continued support and understanding as we implement these guidelines.

CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System to Resume Elective Surgeries April 22

CHRISTUS Health will certify all of its Texas facilities to resume elective care, and CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System is preparing to resume elective procedures and surgeries on April 22, consistent with the provisions of the Governor Greg Abbot’s original order on April 17.

Our facilities have secured the personal protective equipment (PPE) and excess capacity necessary to safely care for the full spectrum of medical conditions and patient needs that we have worked so hard to address in our communities for more than 150 years.

We are working with physicians now to reschedule their patients for medical and surgical procedures they were forced to postpone due to the initial order. While we all understand the reason that these procedures had to be postponed, waiting has imposed a hardship on many of these patients, as many can no longer delay care for heart disease, cancer, pain, vision problems and other conditions. We are working to avoid a surge in illness and suffering as a result of deferred and delayed care.

CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System is expanding its surgery scheduling to include evening and weekend availability for patients’ convenience and to ensure it is ready to provide care that has been delayed.

“The procedures that have been delayed or deferred are often issues related to quality of life,” said Todd Hancock, President and Chief Executive Officer, CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System. “In some cases, these procedures will even help patients live longer. That’s why we have to get them back to our operating rooms when medically necessary as quickly as possible. But just as we’ve always done with our surgeries and other procedures, we must also ensure our patients, Associates and physicians are safe. That’s what we’ve done at CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System for so many years,” Hancock said.

CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System practices infection prevention every day. In addition, the system recently announced that is leading the Northeast Texas community, and the country, by offering antibody testing for some patients, Associates and physicians. This new screening tool allows the hospital to test these groups for antibodies related to the COVID-19 virus, helping it to identify how each patient should receive care and how to keep its caregivers safe.

Not only that, but CHRISTUS Good Shepherd has been steadily working and planning to continue providing necessary, non-COVID care to keep people safe and healthy. To keep all who enter our facilities safe, CHRISTUS Good Shepherd continues to have these following precautions in place:

• Limiting visitors;
• Screening everyone who comes through our doors;
• Isolating COVID-19 patients to one area of the facility;
• Random temperature checks for Associates;
• Requiring everyone on our campuses to wear masks;
• Using telemedicine to treat active COVID-19 patients, so their caregivers and support staff limit the number of times they enter their rooms.

This may be an unprecedented time, but we have experienced many of these since CHRISTUS was founded 154 years ago. In fact, the first three Sisters who started the CHRISTUS ministry in Galveston faced an epidemic of Yellow Fever within the first six months of opening the very first hospital. Epidemics and tragedies have been part of CHRISTUS’ history, and so too has the resolve, after each of those challenges, to move on in love and service to those in need.

“CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System is answering the call to help our community – today and tomorrow. In all that we do, we are devoted to keeping patients, their families, our caregivers and our Associates safe. And we are here when you need care. We are ready,” Hancock said.

April 14, 2020

CHRISTUS Health Offers ‘Game Changer’ Antibodies Test for COVID-19

CHRISTUS Health System is first in the communities it serves to offer new screening tool

CHRISTUS Health announced today it is now offering a new screening tool to some patients, as well as doctors, nurses and other CHRISTUS Associates on the frontlines to learn who has been infected with COVID-19—AND—who might now carry protective antibodies.

“CHRISTUS Health is a safe place to receive care, with high-reliability processes and procedures for infection prevention and mitigating the spread of illness,” explained Dr. Sam Bagchi, CHRISTUS Health’s EVP and Chief Clinical Officer. “Beginning today, we are adding the unprecedented additional layer of antibody screening to help survey for asymptomatic COVID-19 infections among patients and caregivers.”

For the last several weeks, the team has quickly assessed the test’s reliability and then deployed the kits to CHRISTUS hospitals and ambulatory sites across the United States and Latin America. The test produces results in approximately 10 minutes and has been validated internally for screening for COVID-19 infections.

“CHRISTUS is the first in our communities, and is leading the nation by using advanced COVID-19 antibody testing to screen people in our facilities to determine if they have had a COVID-19 infection in the past or have one now,” said Dave Benner, PharmD, MS, MHA, FACHE Vice President, Clinical Ancillary Services.

The country’s leading scientists believe antibody-based tests to be essential in the war against COVID-19.

“This would be a game-changer in restarting parts of the economy more quickly and safely,” Dr. Harvey Fineberg, a professor in the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, wrote in an April 1 editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine.

CHRISTUS will first begin using the test on Associates and caregivers on the frontlines. The rapid screening tool will also be used on hospitalized patients that the clinical team believes may have been infected with COVID-19 as well as patients who are scheduled for an urgent surgery.

“People should not put off urgent and emergent procedures, and should continue to seek the care they need. We know that, regardless of COVID-19, heart attacks and strokes have not stopped. We need to be able to treat people who urgently need to be in an operating room,” said Dr. Bagchi. “With the availability of an antibody test, we can test anyone who comes in for an urgent surgery. This will allow us to reliably know if a patient has COVID-19 before they start having symptoms or might normally be tested.”

This innovative screening solution is in an addition to the ongoing PCR tests many providers, including CHRISTUS, are able to perform. PCR is a laboratory technique known as polymerase chain reaction, and is the current FDA-approved test for diagnosing patients with COVID-19.

This is part of the work that CHRISTUS continues to do every day to keep its facilities safe from the spread of infection. To keep all who enter hospitals and clinics safe we have added the following precautions:

• Limiting visitors;
• Screening everyone who comes through our doors;
• Isolating COVID-19 patients to one area of the facility;
• Random temperature checks for Associates;
• Requiring all Associates and visitors to wear masks;
• Using telemedicine to treat active COVID-19 patients, so their caregivers and support staff limit the number of times they enter their rooms.
• Virtual medicine is now available in every one of the CHRISTUS ministries at christushealth.org/virtual-medicine

CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System Visitor Guidelines

As the demands of the current COVID-19 pandemic continue to evolve in our community, CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System wants to keep our East Texas communities informed about updated visitor guidelines. Out of an abundance of caution, we are further limiting visitors to our hospitals and ERs.

Effective immediately and until further notice, we are restricting ALL visitors.

Exceptions will be made for:

• Maternity patients – 1 visitor
• Pediatric patients – 1 visitor
• Surgical patients – 1 visitor
• Patients on comfort/end-of-life care

In effort to adhere to the social distancing guidelines our waiting rooms are also closed until further notice.

Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has shifted their guidelines and is advising everyone to wear a mask. This is to help prevent the spread of virus from the wearer to others and is especially important in the event someone is infected but does not have symptoms. In an effort to continue our adherence to all CDC guidelines, we have updated our personal protective equipment (PPE) and masking policies accordingly. Effective April 7, all visitors must wear a mask at all of our CHRISTUS Good Shepherd locations. Each visitor will need to provide their own mask or may use a donated cloth mask if available.

All visitors, Associates and vendors will undergo a quick verbal screening, which will be available at the following locations. Only vendors who are essential to surgical procedures will be permitted and must have identification.

CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Medical Center - Longview

• Main Entrance (Hwy 80/6th St): Mon. – Fri: 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sat. – Sun.: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• South Entrance – Closed
• Emergency Department Entrance – 24 hours/day
• Please note: CSC and Medical Plaza Crosswalks will be for Associates only and are not for visitor use.

CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Medical Center - Marshall

• Main Entrance (S Washington) – Mon. – Fri.: 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sat. – Sun.: Closed
• University St. Entrance – closed
• Emergency Department Entrance – 24 hours/day

CHRISTUS Good Shepherd NorthPark & Kilgore Campuses

• Emergency Department Entrance – 24 hour/day

Symptoms & Seeking Care

We value your health and safety and are doing everything we can to minimize the risk of spread of infectious disease throughout our community, including the coronavirus (COVID-19). If you are ill with fever or cough or shortness of breath and have had travel to any region that has known community spread of coronavirus or if you have any of the above symptoms and exposure to a person with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, call 1-800-458-4559 to be connected to our CHRISTUS COVID Hotline. For more information on COVID-19 and preventive measures, please visit www.CDC.gov.

CHRISTUS Health Statement Regarding COVID-19

CHRISTUS Good Shepherd System wants to assure the people of our communities who trust in us for their health care that we are prepared and stand ready to care for our community. Because our goal is to ensure our hospital continues to be a safe place to receive care, we are following CDC guidelines and implementing new visitation restrictions. The goal of these updated visitor procedures is to limit the risk of exposure to our patients, visitors, Associates, physicians and volunteers.

We want to be perfectly clear – CHRISTUS Good Shepherd remains a safe place for all to receive quality care. While COVID-19 is new, our processes and procedures in place for infection prevention and preventing the spread of illness are not. From physicians and nurses, quality and safety experts to those responsible for ordering supplies and keeping the hospital clean — all of our Associates are involved in making sure we provide a safe environment for our patients. Every single day.