VERONA, Wis. (WMTV) – Following a letter from Dane County supervisors asking health officials questions about Epic’s opening plan, the electronic health records company said it ‘adapts the time frame’ because it works with public health officials.
In a statement delivered to NBC15, Sverre Roang, Epic’s Chief Administrative Officer, said the company received a letter from Public Health Madison & Dane County on August 6 regarding the plan for staff to return to personal work on Epic’s campus.
“Throughout our entire planning process, we have been in regular communication with PHMDC to ensure that our plans are in line with their mandates,” Raong said in the statement. “We responded to the letter on August 8 and asked for clarity on their regulation and approval of our plan going forward.”
Raong said that if Epic works with PHMDC, the time frame for employees to adjust back to personal work will be adjusted.
Staff were informed of these adjustments on 8 August. Staff who do not feel like their personal circumstances – such as childcare or health conditions – can allow them to return to campus are no longer required to return on Monday as originally planned.
In addition, Epic says the company recently visited the Cleveland Clinic to test the return to the work plan, as well as national public health expert Dr. Steve Ostroff and epidemiologist Dr. Nicky Quick.
“It is our hope that by working together we can become a model for other companies in the country on how to safely bring employees back to work,” Raong said in the statement.
In a letter issued Saturday, Raong requested that PHMDC provide additional guidance and collaborate with Epic.
The full letter to PHMDC can be read below:
August 8, 2020
Bonnie Koenig
Public Health Supervisor
Public Health Madison & Dane County
Dear Bonnie Koenig:
We received your letter on August 6 regarding Epic’s plan for staff to return to campus. Based on your letter, we have adjusted our return to work policy so that staff are not currently required to return. We hope you can provide us with additional guidance on your regulations. Specifically, we ask that PHMDC work closely with us and confirm that our plans comply with Emergency Order # 8. We are committed to bringing staff back to campus.
We at Epic care deeply about the health of our staff, their families, the wider Dane County community, and the hundreds of millions of patients who have cared about using our software. We have worked insufficiently in recent months to ensure that we provide a safe environment that enables our staff to perform critical health care and public health work. We are confident that we are and will continue to be in compliance with the Emergency Order # PHMDC.
We have partnered with health experts to review our plans for health and safety campuses, including Drs. Stephen Ostroff, who previously served as the Food and Drug Administration’s acting commissioner, and experts returning from work at Cleveland Clinic. We also have Drs. Nicky Quick, the former top Orange County Public Health Officer, has been hired as our in-house public health expert.
It is in the best interests of public health, Epic staff, and our community that Epic and PHMDC work together on our plan. We ask that you work with us to review our plans and provide clear advice and approval. Together we have a shared responsibility to protect the health of staff and the greater public health in the region.
Businesses all over the country resume. By working together, we believe we can help create a model for similar businesses of how to successfully bring people back to work in a way that is in the best interests of public health during the COVID-19 pandemic. .
Honestly,
Sverre Roang
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