1/26: Anthony Jackson, CEO of Roper St. Francis: COVID Update

January 26, 2021:

Anthony Jackson, CEO of the Roper St. Francis Healthcare system, visited the club to talk about the battle against Covid 19. Also, some new volunteer opportunities are highlighted in this week’s newsletter, including the District-wide vaccination program and the club’s next Adopt-A-Highway clean-up effort.

Anthony Jackson, Chief Operating Officer for Roper St Francis Healthcare, gave us a COVID-19 update from a Roper perspective. Anthony began his career as an X-ray tech at Roper in 1989 then enjoyed a very successful 20-year experience at HealthSouth. He was named COO of all three RSFH hospitals in the spring of 2019.

Anthony talked about how things evolved over the course of the pandemic. Early on there were severe shortages of PPE’s and RSFH had to really work to find these products for their team members. This meant going to vendors outside their usual supply chain and sometimes paying a premium to ensure they could continue to operate safely. 

Because of RSFH’s role as the only local not-for-profit healthcare system, they have borne the lion’s share of our region’s COVID-19 cases. One of the questions they had to address early on is “How do we give people confidence that it is safe to come to the Hospital?” RSFH had to limit family member visits and elective procedures which have been difficult. Healthcare workers have been under enormous pressure and have gone above and beyond to serve patients. 

We are now thankfully in the vaccination phase and that is a major focus for everyone. One of RSFH’s concerns is making sure that people in older age groups that may be typically underserved by health care – those without insurance, transportation, internet access, etc. – are able to be vaccinated. They are looking for ways to reach those people.

Anthony gave some current statistics. Since the beginning of the pandemic, RSFH has administered 85,000 tests, with 10,000 of those being positive (11.7%). RSFH had 110 COVID-19 patients as of this Monday. The highest that number peaked was 156. The demographics are:

Age Group Percentage of Hospitalizations

  • Under 49 46%
  • 50-59 15%
  • 60-69 17%
  • 70-79 40%
  • Over 80 8%

By race, the breakdown is 51% white, 36% African American, 2% Latino, 11% other. But Anthony noted these numbers are skewed because the testing rate for African Americans is lower than others. Many rural hospitals in SC are not even testing but are treating obvious COVID-19 cases. Throughout his talk, Anthony took several questions from the group and provided a lot of good information and insight.

Go here for a recording of the meeting.

Submitted by Jeff Webb,  Keyway Committee

IN OTHER MEETING NEWS 

    • Tom Giovanniello gave the Invocation and led us in the pledge.  
    • Tom Giovanniello also welcomed all visiting Rotarians & guests.  
    • President Lisa presented Health and Happiness.
    • Past President Paul Stoney introduced our guest speaker, Anthony Jackson, who is CEO of 3 Roper St. Francis hospitals.  Anthony discussed COVID and gave us an update.        

MORE IN THIS WEEK’S KEYWAY

February 2, 2021 | Issue 4993| President: Lisa Van Bergen

UPCOMING EVENTS 
  • Feb. 2 – Owen Clary, Rotarying Around the World
  • Feb. 9 – Elliott Summey, Charleston International Airport
  • Feb. 13 – Adopt-A-Highway, Bee Street & Lockwood
  • Feb.16 – Sharon Hollis, BCDCOG on “LCRT Updates” (ZOOM)
  • Feb. 23 – Helen Hill, “The Impact of Covid-19 on Tourism
  • March 2 – Chief Luther Reynolds, CPD Leadership Development Institute
NEWS BRIEFS

 

COVID:  In-Person Reminder

As we go back to attending meetings in person, we wanted to again share the below from the District. Members are asked to keep this in mind. 

It has come to my attention that we need to set some ground rules for dealing with Rotarians who contract COVID-19 and how we deal with this in our clubs.  First, for the Rotarians themselves. We MUST maintain absolute confidentiality for ANYONE who tests positive for COVID-19 unless they give us permission to share their information.  That said, we MUST also ask, even require, that any Rotarian who has been to an in-person Rotary meeting or other function and later suspects they have COVID-19 report this to their Club President as soon as possible.  This could be due to being in close contact with a person who tests positive or that they show symptoms. And, they absolutely must let the Club President know immediately if they test positive.  Then, keeping confidentiality, the Club President MUST let all who attended that event know that there was someone at the event or meeting who came down with symptoms or tested positive.  This will, at least, give all those notified the option of being tested immediately.  And, it gives them a warning that maybe they should limit their contact with others until it is proven that they are not infected.

 

Rotarian/Non-Rotarian Volunteers Needed To Assist With COVID Vaccine Rollout

The Rotary Club of Charleston is playing a critical role in a Covid Vaccine public/private partnership with Rotary District 7770 and all 3 local hospital systems that was pulled together in 7 days. The first pilot mass vaccine event was held on Friday, January 22 in the parking lot at Seacoast Church in Mount Pleasant, where more than 1,000 people were vaccinated. Qualified citizens 70 years or older and healthcare providers and caretakers filled the 1,032 appointment spots through the MUSC online system within 12 hours after it went live Wednesday afternoon.
Non-medical roles like traffic control, assuring everyone had confirmed appointments and assisting the medical team in each of the 10 pods with supply refills were fulfilled by Rotarians. In return, the Rotary volunteers were given permission to receive their first Covid-19 Vaccine dose as the volunteer spots qualify them as “front line healthcare workers”. A second event will be held on February 12 at the same site where all vaccine participants will receive their second and final dose of the 2-dose Pfizer vaccine.
Rotary District 7770 partnered with Rotary District 7750 to create a website to pre-register Rotarians and the general public throughout the state of South Carolina who want to help with the Covid vaccine rollout as events will eventually be scheduled at towns and cities across the state over the next 8-9 months. Go to www.rotaryready.com to register and encourage your friends and families to do the same. All volunteers must be 18 years or older.
The partnership includes Rotary, DHEC, MUSC, Roper St. Francis Hospital, East Cooper Medical Center, the City of Charleston, Town of Mount Pleasant. It will eventually expand to other municipalities and healthcare systems in a statewide public/private collaboration to address the pandemic by reaching herd immunity when 85% of our population has been vaccinated as quickly as possible and restore our lives and economy. Sandy and Cleave from our Club serve on the Statewide Rotary Ready Task Force.
There are nearly 2,000 Rotarians and community members who have registered so far to be part of the effort.  We will need a huge pool of volunteers to be able to respond for the volunteer needs when these bigger mass vaccine events start to roll out in the Lowcountry and in communities all over the state. 

 

 

Charleston 50

The Charleston 50, a special group of generous supporters who contribute $500 annually to the Rotary Club of Charleston’s community grants program, is almost 50% filled! What a great opportunity to continue our decades-long tradition of grant-making while also building brand awareness and visibility before a group that values local businesses, generous leaders, and community-minded professionals.  This group receives exclusive benefits, and all funds will support local charities.  Your donation is 100% Tax-Deductible.  The group will never exceed 50 donors, and this is your opportunity to join the inaugural class of The Charleston 50!  Memberships will be accepted until 50 are obtained, and benefits continue through June 30, 2021.  At that point Year Two will start!

Please download and complete the attached Pledge Form, and return it via email to Phoenicia Miracle at [email protected].

 

As benefits (through June 30, 2021), each Charleston 50 member will annually receive:

  1. Their logo or name on the website with a hotlink
  2. Recognition at a meeting (Recognize two at a time)
  3. Right of first refusal for 2021-22
  4. a Charleston 50 lapel pin
  5. A frameable certificate for office
  6. A decal
  7. Permission to use The Rotary 50 on their website and email
  8. Automatic enrollment in and recognition at other Rotary events
  9. Name association with every good deed Rotary funds
  10. Special event post-Covid

Adopt-A-Highway in February

Volunteers are needed for our next Adopt-A-Highway service project on Saturday, February 13.  The plan is to meet at Bee Street & Lockwood at 10am and being the pick up about 10:15am (after brief introduction — vest, gloves, bags distribution).  The plan is to focus on the west end of the street and go toward east as there is more debris on that side because of MUSC.  This is a wonderful opportunity to help keep our community beautiful!  It is also outside and allows for plenty of social distancing.  Please email Stavros Triantafyllidis at [email protected] for more information or to volunteer.

 

PR Committee Seeking Volunteers

Our club’s PR Team is looking for additional members to join their committee. Specifically, volunteer photographers are needed to take photos at our meetings. If you are interested in serving on the PR committee and helping in this role, please email Mike Sottak at [email protected]. Fancy cameras are not required, an iPhone will do! It would be wonderful to have a couple of volunteers alternating the weekly duty. 

 

Ambassadorial Global Scholars – Volunteers for Selection Committee

The International Committee of our Club sponsors a college student in their pursuit of a $50,000 graduate-level scholarship through the Rotary Foundation’s Ambassadorial Global Scholars program. Over the next couple of months, we will vet a number of students and choose an applicant to compete with other scholars from our Rotary District. Chloe Tonney is our wonderful Rotarian who heads up this effort and is currently seeking applicants from the area’s colleges and universities. 

Our Club has not had a winning applicant in the past few years but I have a feeling this year is our year! We are seeking volunteers to serve on our selection committee for our scholar and help prep our scholar for the broader competition. 

If you have an interest in helping us out, please email Joseph Tecklenburg at [email protected]

 

Support The CART Fund

It is easy for club members to make individual contributions and support The CART Fund electronically. The CART Fund has a new portal www.mycartfund.org, which you can easily access. As a Rotarian and a DACdb user, you automatically have an account already set-up in your name. Your user name and password are the same as it is for the DACdb.

 

Support the Rotary Foundation

The District 7770 Million $ Campaign and dinner will be held on May 5th 2021 at the Francis Marion Hotel. Our own Sandy Morkel is the Chair for that event.  $10,000 spread over 3 years or a Bequest gets you an invite.  

And do not forget your opportunity to be recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow.  Eighty-five dollars a month gets you there.  Please reach out to Karl Riner, Club Foundation Chair, to sign up or ask questions.You can also donate to Rotary’s efforts to end polio now: https://endpolio.org/donate.

 

Our Club is on Social Media

Members are encouraged to follow all of our social media channels and share posts with their followers too!  We also need members to send us pictures of anything they do that relates to Rotary – service projects, meetings, events, etc.  We would love to keep our accounts full of smiling Rotarians! Photos can be sent to Mike Sottak, [email protected], or Rob Byko, [email protected].

 

MEMBER NEWS

Congrats to Past President Digit Matheny, who was appointed to the state-wide Board for the Wildlife Federation.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Rotarian:  Mackie Moore

  • JOINED: 12/1/2020
  • SPONSOR: Past President Sandy Morckel
  • MEMBERSHIP INVOLVEMENT: New Member
  • CLASSIFICATION: Eleemosynary/Executive
  • PROFESSION: Founder/CEO, Thrive Saves Lives (aka Thrive SC)
  • SOMETHING UNIQUE ABOUT YOURSELF: Mackie recently completed work as Associate Producer and actor on director Paige Tolmach’s Emmy-nominated documentary film WHAT HAUNTS US about the horrific nightmare of childhood sexual abuse that pervaded their seemingly perfect high school. Please take the time to watch this very important film, now available on Amazon, Apple iTunes, Vudu, Google Play Movies, and YouTube. -Mackie collaborated with Dorothea Benton Frank on her NY Times best-selling novel, The Hurricane Sisters, about the Director of Development of a domestic violence non-profit in Charleston, the underlying theme being intimate partner abuse. Published in the novel is a letter that Mackie wrote to Readers, regarding the silent epidemic of domestic violence in South Carolina. -Mackie was featured as a “Great American Hero,” on the Great American Country Network’s Television Show, Great American Hero. The show follows country music star Trace Adkins on his nationwide tour, as he takes time away from the stage to celebrate community leaders nation-wide, doing extraordinary things. Mackie was honored for her work as Executive Director of Rein & Shine, a non-profit organization offering therapeutic horseback riding for children with disabilities, where she revamped a failing program and turned the organization around. Her work at the non-profit also resulted in Rein and Shine being voted one of the 2011 top five non-profit organizations in Charleston, SC by the Coastal Community Foundation and Charleston Magazine. -Mackie worked in her family business Events by Krawcheck for several years as an event planner and a master floral designer, where her work was published in “Southern Living,” “Modern Bride,” and “Martha Stewart Weddings” magazines, and “Best of Martha Stewart” coffee table book -Big East, NCAA, Division 1, Varsity Volleyball College Athlete, Georgetown University, awarded full scholarship as a “walk on,” Sophomore year.

Birthdays

  • 2/3 – Skip Fink
  • 2/6 – Tom Leonard

By the numbers

    • Attendance on January 26, 2021 (In-Person and Zoom):  38
    • Not in attendance:  Allen, Baggs, Baus, Berry, Bini, Brack,  Chico, Clark, Coe, Cole, Cook, Coxe, Crouch, DeGraff, Diminich, Drafts, Echols, Fason, Fellabom,  Galizia, Gill, Hanger, Holmes, Howard, Husser, Imam, Johnson, Jones, Jones, Kaynard, Loredo, Lucy, Moore,  Moring, Oswalt, Palmer, Patrick, Peters, Phipps, Plotner, Ravenel, Raver, Riley, Rust, Savage, Seguer, Shahid, Sidebottom, Smith, H., Smith, M., Smith, P., Staley, Strickland, Sullivan Taylor, Tecklenburg, Tecklenburg, Teller, Tonney, Wackym, Walters, Ward, Webb, Weston, Willey, Williams, Woodell
    • Out of Town Make-ups: None
WELLNESS TIP

Use non-toxic skincare & personal care products

Similar to cleaning products, conventional skincare and personal care products are formulated with toxic ingredients we should not regularly let absorb into our body’s largest organ. Reduce the toxic burden on your body by switching to non-toxic personal care and beauty products.

 

ARE CLUB MEETINGS

Mondays

  • Summerville – Oakbrook: 7:30 a.m., Monday, Westcott County Club, 5000 Wescott Club Drive, North Charleston
  • North Charleston: 12:30 a.m., Monday, Hilton Garden Inn, 5265 International Blvd, North Charleston.
  • Summerville Evening: 5:30 p.m., Monday, Montreux Bar and Grill, 127 W. Richardson Ave., Summerville

Tuesdays

  • East Cooper Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Cooper River Room at Waterfront Park, Mount Pleasant
  • Charleston: 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, Hall’s Signature Events, 5 Faber, Charleston
  • Goose Creek: 12:45  m. Tuesday, Gilligan’s, 219 St. James Ave., Goose Creek

Wednesdays

  • Daniel Island: 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Daniel Island Club, 600 Island Park Dr., Daniel Island
  • St. John’s Parish (John’s Island): 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, 2817 Maybank Highway, Unit 1, John’s Island
  • Mount Pleasant: 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, Harbor Breeze Restaurant, 176 Patriots Point Road, Mount Pleasant
  • Summerville: 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sticky Fingers, Summerville

Thursdays

  • North Charleston Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Embassy Suites, 5055 International Blvd., North Charleston
  • Moncks Corner: 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Gilligan’s Restaurant, Moncks Corner
  • St. Andrews (West Ashley): 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Bessinger’s BBQ, 1602 Savannah Highway, Charleston.

Fridays

SOCIAL MEDIA 

Our Rotary club actively uses social media — and we encourage you to interact with us through social media.

  • We’re on FacebookTake a look at our page and be sure to “like us”.
  • We’re on Twitter.  You can follow us @chasrotaryclub.
  • We’re on Instagram.  You can follow us @ChasRotaryClub.
ABOUT THE KEYWAY 

The Keyway has been published weekly as a newsletter for the Rotary Club of Charleston for more than 90 years.

  • President: Lisa Van Bergen
  • Keyway editor: Don Baus [email protected]
  • Executive secretary: Carroll Schweers, [email protected]
  • Mailing address: Rotary Club of Charleston, P.O. Box 21029, Charleston, SC 29413-1029
  • Copyright 2018, Rotary Club of Charleston. All rights reserved