UW Health and Meriter to discontinue masking tomorrow, April 1
Join us in taking action for year-round masking in healthcare to protect patients and workers
Our group has learned that UW Health and UnityPoint Health-Meriter will discontinue masking in outpatient settings and other areas not specifically designated as “high risk” starting tomorrow, Monday, April 1, 2024.
COVID continues to be a significant risk in healthcare settings year-round. Year-round universal masking keeps all of us safe in healthcare settings—patients, workers, and the broader community.
UW Health and Meriter have required masking since December 2023, after having discontinued it last spring. Members of our community expressed gratitude for the reinstatement of masking, which allowed them to more safely access medical care. The plan to drop masking in most healthcare settings tomorrow has not been announced on the UW Health or Meriter websites, nor has this rollback in protections been shared in local media outlets.
As of March 28, Public Health Madison and Dane County (PHMDC) indicates that combined COVID, influenza, and RSV viral levels are “very high,” with both influenza and RSV at “high” levels, based on emergency department data. Although COVID wastewater levels in the Madison sewershed are lower than they were in December and January, levels are about twice what they were at the lowest point last summer.
No one should have to choose between obtaining health care and being needlessly exposed to a deadly and disabling virus. Patients who are at high risk of severe COVID seek care throughout the healthcare system, and not just at specific clinics that may be designated “high risk” where masks are still required.
Masking, especially with N95 respirators, not only protects against COVID but is also effective at protecting against influenza, RSV, tuberculosis, and measles. Measles outbreaks are occurring in Chicago as well as nationally.
We submitted a letter to UW Health and Meriter Patient Relations today, March 31, requesting year-round universal masking. A copy of the letter is included below the break. You are invited to borrow text, references, or talking points from our letter for your advocacy. There are many ways to take action to support continued healthcare masking:
Contact UW Health and Meriter patient relations and ask for year-round universal masking. Consider sharing how masking policies and practices have impacted you personally, both positive experiences when healthcare workers and patients masked, as well as how inadequate masking in healthcare impacts you.
UW Health
Phone: (608) 263-8009
Online form: https://www.uwhealth.org/forms/customer-service-inquiries
UnityPoint Health Meriter Patient Relations
If you receive a Patient Satisfaction survey, consider including comments about how masking policies and practices impact you.
Contact other Dane County healthcare systems.
SSM Health Patient Relations
Group Health Cooperative Member Services
Wear a well-fitting respirator when you enter healthcare settings.
Request masking and other COVID precautions when you get medical care.
March 30 was National Doctors’ Day - consider leaving a message (optionally with a masked selfie) thanking doctors for masking on UW Health’s Kudoboard.
Use the People’s CDC Action Network campaign to automatically contact elected officials based on your address: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/take-action-for-masks-in-healthcare-settings/
Contact local elected officials to ask for their support for universal masking in healthcare.
Contact Governor Evers: https://appengine.egov.com/apps/wi/governor/voice-an-opinion
State legislature: https://legis.wisconsin.gov/
Dane County board: https://dcimapapps.countyofdane.com/supervisors/
Madison Common Council: https://www.cityofmadison.com/council/councilmembers/findalderbyaddress.cfm
Dear UW Health and UnityPoint Health–Meriter leadership,
We are Wisconsin Community Health Action, a group of educators, workers, and concerned citizens working to protect the public health of the people of Wisconsin.
We urge you to reconsider your decision to discontinue universal masking in outpatient and "low-risk" settings. This decision affects everyone in the community, including members of marginalized groups. No one should have to choose between obtaining health care and being needlessly exposed to a deadly and disabling virus.
UW Health and Meriter must also allow for public input, and provide appropriate notice of changes in masking protocol so that patients with scheduled appointments and procedures can make informed decisions about getting safe medical care. We would also like the opportunity to meet with your representatives to further discuss our concerns.
Year-round universal masking in healthcare, particularly with N95 respirators, keeps all of us safe—workers, patients, and the broader community. High-risk and immunocompromised patients seek care in all parts of our healthcare system and not just in designated "high-risk" locations.
Members of our local community have expressed gratitude for UW Health and Meriter’s reinstatement of masking in December 2023, which allowed all patients safer access to care. Over 500 people have signed WCHA’s petition to keep healthcare masking at UW Health. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/keep-healthcare-masking-at-uw-health-in-wisconsin-and-illinois
Masking in healthcare settings protects patients, caregivers, and healthcare workers amid ongoing spread of COVID and other infectious diseases, including influenza, RSV, measles, and tuberculosis. Universal masking should be a standard precaution in healthcare [1], just like handwashing and glove-wearing.
Even with currently available vaccination and treatment options, acute COVID infections can still be serious and life-altering. COVID spread within healthcare not only puts people at risk but also worsens staffing shortages. Healthcare-acquired COVID has a mortality rate of 5-10% or higher [2,3]. In efforts to improve patient safety, the goal level of healthcare-acquired infections should be zero, as is recognized by the Joint Commission [4]. Universal masking is a simple measure to greatly reduce the risk of healthcare-acquired COVID.
Patients and healthcare workers are at risk of developing Long COVID. Long COVID can affect anyone, including those who are young, vaccinated, and previously healthy. As of March 4, 2024, about 17% of US adults have ever had Long COVID and about 7% currently have Long COVID [5]. We still lack specific treatments for Long COVID.
Although patients may request masking from their healthcare providers, this approach does not provide sufficient protection as COVID transmission can occur in lobbies, waiting rooms, elevators, and other shared spaces where masking requests are not practical. The power differential between patients and healthcare workers is also a barrier to requesting masking.
The lack of safe, equitable access to healthcare disproportionately impacts disabled people [6], members of BIPOC communities [7], socially/economically disadvantaged people, those confined to jails and prisons, trans people, and other marginalized groups [8], all of whom have experienced worse health outcomes since the onset of the pandemic.
We urge you to reinstate universal masking at UW Health and Meriter as the standard of care throughout the healthcare system, with the use of well-fitting masks (ideally N95 respirators) required for all workers, patients and visitors. We look forward to discussing this important issue with you as we work toward our shared goals to improve safe access to healthcare for all people in our community.
References
Kalu IC, Henderson DK, Weber DJ, Haessler S. Back to the future: Redefining “universal precautions” to include masking for all patient encounters. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. Published online February 10, 2023:1-2. doi:10.1017/ice.2023.2 https://med.emory.edu/departments/medicine/divisions/infectious-diseases/serious-communicable-diseases-program/pdf/kalu-2023-back-to-the-future-redefining-unive.pdf
Pak TR, Rhee C, Wang R, Klompas M. Discontinuation of Universal Admission Testing for SARS-CoV-2 and Hospital-Onset COVID-19 Infections in England and Scotland. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2023;183(8):877-880. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.1261
Cook H. ‘A death sentence’: More than 600 people die after catching COVID in hospital. The Age. Published June 25, 2023. Accessed March 30, 2024. https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/a-death-sentence-more-than-600-people-die-after-catching-covid-in-hospital-20230621-p5di7x.html
Zero Harm | The Joint Commission. Accessed March 31, 2024. https://www.jointcommission.org/resources/patient-safety-topics/zero-harm/
Long COVID - Household Pulse Survey - COVID-19. Accessed March 30, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/pulse/long-covid.htm
Goyal D, Hunt X, Kuper H, Shakespeare T, Banks LM. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with disabilities and implications for health services research. J Health Serv Res Policy. 2023;28(2):77-79. doi:10.1177/13558196231160047
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, People of Color Were More Likely to Die at Younger Ages. KFF. Published April 24, 2023. Accessed March 30, 2024. https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/press-release/during-the-covid-19-pandemic-people-of-color-were-more-likely-to-die-at-younger-ages/
Jirmanus L, Valenti R, Schwartzman EG, et al. Too Many Deaths, Too Many Left Behind: A People’s External Review of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 Pandemic Response. AJPM Focus. Published online February 24, 2024. doi:10.1016/j.focus.2024.100207
Thank you for doing this. I live in a senior apartment building and am wearing a mask at least in the elevator. I have been careful & as of yet have still not had Covid or RSV. However, in November I got nasty bronchitis & in January a cold. That's when I started wearing a mask again here. I have a heart condition and must be careful. While at UW Health or the Hospital for an appointment, only half of employees were wearing a mask anyway. Not safe.