Unfortunately I needed to go to the ER at Peninsula hospital last week. Fortunately the care I received once I got in to see the doc and the nurse was great. But the hour spent in the ER lobby left me feeling very unsettled--and not because of the laceration I was there to get treated. It was apparently a busy time according to the staff comments. There were at least a dozen people and sometimes more than 15 waiting. The chairs (which I did not use) were somewhat haphazardly spaced and easily moved around. There was no painter's tape on the floor, no plastic sheeting or Plexiglas dividers anywhere. No bottles of sanitizer and towels for DIY cleaning like the grocery stores have for their carts. Certainly no one came through to clean in the hour I was there. Even putting Covid concerns aside (which none of us should do) there were several people who appeared quite sick, coughing and barely masked.
What's up with that? If any restaurant in town tried that it would be taken to task immediately. I have asked, via the email feedback form, to talk with someone in a position of authority about it, but no response in three or four days. If you have to go--be very careful--unlike if you went to the barbershop on Park Rd. acroos from the old Post Office for example.
Interesting -- I was at a different Sutter Health facility this morning and they took all kinds of precautions. And they had sanitizer stations EVERYWHERE.
Posted by: HMB | July 01, 2020 at 04:03 PM
This feels like a Do as I Say, Not as I Do moment. Who runs this show? Thank you for notice.
Posted by: resident | July 01, 2020 at 08:22 PM
'Same comment via a relative who went to Peninsula last week (late night)- they are completely overwhelmed, sick people everywhere, not enough help for crowd control.
Also, I was really disappointed last week at my go-to Safeway on Delaware, the one that is usually very well managed and small enough to get in and out of fast....Nobody cleaning up the carts, Nobody checking for masks on entry and as a result, one customer wandering all over, who should have been given a disposable one if she didn't have her own.
From what I've seen, compliance downtown with the street closure seems to be willy nilly, particularly with the under 40 crowd. Maybe it was just a bad day, but Broadway on a Thursday afternoon appeared to have poor compliance as far as sidewalk setting. I think we need somebody on foot or on bicycle giving out friendly warnings.
Posted by: Jennifer Pfaff | July 03, 2020 at 12:02 PM
Has the death rate from this horrible virus gone up in San Mateo county? I was told we were not doing very well at some point but I can't find statistics.
Posted by: very concerned citizen | July 03, 2020 at 05:59 PM
The statistics are upsated daily on weekday mornings at https://www.smchealth.org/san-mateo-county-covid-19-and-other-health-data
You get totals, several cuts of the data and charts. Our death toll as of this morning is 108 in a County of just over three-quarters of a million people. More than half were over 80.
I update this post weekly from the data with some commentary https://www.burlingamevoice.com/2020/06/pandemic-tipping-point.html
This morning's update noted:
The County reporting maybe through for the week because of the Fourth. And it was a big week for new cases, 3,441--up 358 since my last report including the biggest day yet at 86 on Monday. Every day this week was >60 which is a first.
64.5% of cases are people under 50. Several people have noted some lax behavior out there and BPD had to intervene in a mask-no mask altercation at the Farmer's Market this week.
Hope that helps
Posted by: Joe | July 03, 2020 at 08:05 PM
Thank you Joe for the update. This is terrible. I was told to go to urgent care for non life-threatening issues, less charges from insurance in the long run. Stay healthy everyone and hope we don't have to visit either place.
Posted by: Winne | July 04, 2020 at 08:35 PM
Thank you, Winne. We knew the same and started at Mills urgent care. They had better protocol in the waiting room, cleaned the laceration, but once the nurse got a look at it (...chainsaw cut) she didn't want to take it on and sent me to the ER. A good call and I appreciate her knowing her limits.
Thank you for the side texts everyone--surgery on Wed. went well (also at Mills outpatient) and I'm on the mend.
No contact from anyone in a position to speak for Peninsula yet................
Posted by: Joe | July 04, 2020 at 09:16 PM
Prayers ascending
Posted by: Peter Garrison | July 05, 2020 at 11:22 AM
Chainsaw accident!!?
Please elaborate Joe. at least so we can learn from your misfortune.
Posted by: Uhap | July 05, 2020 at 04:31 PM
Let's just say, use the chainsaw for large branches that it's designed for (and quite safe) and use the manual lopper for small branches that can slide around and cause the saw to slip. All will be fine in a couple weeks--or so the doc says. No photos tho :-)
Posted by: Joe | July 05, 2020 at 04:51 PM
I've heard the electric pole saw is the tool of choice for branches.
Posted by: uhap | July 05, 2020 at 05:21 PM
I was referring to the last step of cutting them into small enough pieces to fit in th green bin.
Posted by: Joe | July 05, 2020 at 06:21 PM
Update on the injury, please, Joe?
Posted by: Sally Meakin | July 06, 2020 at 07:18 AM
Sorry to hear Joe. Recover quickly!
Had to make an ER visit with my 1 of my grandsons for a broken arm(boys being boys accident) while visiting us in Reno. Precautions being taken at every level in the ER. Felt safe.
Posted by: Barking Dog | July 06, 2020 at 11:57 AM
Sorry to hear about the accident, Joe. Hope you have a swift recovery!
Posted by: Bruce Dickinson | July 06, 2020 at 06:20 PM
I'm doubling back to this post to relay that 3 1/2 weeks have passed and I have no response from Sutter to my request to speak to someone about the virus protocol in the lobby. Having spent 30+ years in market research, this is one major reason people don't fill out feedback forms very often.
Posted by: Joe | July 18, 2020 at 12:23 PM