PRESS RELEASE: COVID-19

September 3, 2020

Somervell County, Texas now has a total of 175 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the number of residents currently in home isolation with active cases has dropped to 11.  This is the lowest number of active cases we have seen for atleast 2 months.  None of the patients are hospitalized at this time.  Using the guidelines from the State of Texas DSHS, we currently have 3 county residents who have died as a result of their COVID-19 infections.  Our condolences and prayers go out to their families and friends.  We also have had two known deaths of patients who either died with COVID-19, but from another cause, or died shortly after recovering from their COVID-19 infection.  Again, our thought and prayers go out to their families and friends during these very trying times.  All of these patients had significant medical problems and/or risk factors.  This number has changed due to the data recorded on the death certificates, which have placed at least one death into different counties.  We have had 161 residents recover from this illness.

The most recent testing data from Glen Rose medical center shows a declining positive testing rate of 11.97% during the month of August.  This decline mirrors the statewide testing numbers, even though our percentage is lower than the state average.  GRMC has run 906 total PCR tests, and 867 antigen tests.  Some patients have been tested more than once for a variety of reasons, including repeated exposure to COVID-19 positive patients, possible recurrent exposures, or work related requirements.

We continue to have evidence of community and family spread in Somervell County.  Neighboring counties also have community, family and institutional spread that is ongoing. Overall activity of the virus in our county appears to be decreasing.  The risk level to all Somervell County residents is still substantial, however, this is, in a large part, due to our proximity to counties with a higher level of cases and community spread than what he are seeing here.  Contact tracer activity is ongoing with all new positive results, and all results are being reported to the State of Texas per DSHS guidelines.  Most contact tracing is performed by Texas Health Trace, and can be initiated online if patients wish.

COVID-19 will continue to impact our community.  So far, I have been very pleased with the very limited number of cases identified as having a potential impact on our students, teachers, and staff.  Now that we have gone back to school, I would like to remind people that social distancing, aggressive hand hygiene, and wearing masks in appropriate situations, are the best ways to protect themselves from getting the virus.  It is still early, but at this time, there is no evidence of any infection resulting from an exposure through GRISD activities or campuses.

Please be mindful that we are all neighbors, respect the privacy of others and follow HIPAA guidelines.  It is Glen Rose Medical Center’s policy not to release any demographic or patient information due to HIPAA law.

Want to know more?

Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) website and Texas 2-1-1 remain the best sources of information for Somervell residents regarding COVID-19 testing and self-protection measures. DSHS updates their county-by-county tracking map daily at https://dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus/.

I would like to request that if you are ill, and think that illness might be COVID-19 due to your personal exposure history, please try to get tested.  Having accurate numbers to help guide decision making in our county and school district is very important.  If people are choosing to not be tested, it makes getting accurate numbers all that more difficult.  If you have any concerns about your status, please call your primary provider to further discuss testing options.

The number of active cases has taken a very positive movement for Somervell County.  Hopefully this will continue.  I caution against becoming complacent due to this positive trend though.  When in groups larger than 6, especially in outside your household, wearing masks, and aggressive hand sanitation is still indicated.  Social distancing is still important. Please be safe.

I appreciate everyone’s continued time and efforts in fighting this disease, none of us are in this alone.  Together we can keep our community strong, safe, and moving forward.

Thank you!

Steven Vacek, M.D.

Glen Rose HealthCare Inc.

Somervell County Local Health Authority

COVID 9-3-2020

See Notices under:

Hospital District Tab, Public Records

Notice about 2020 Tax Rate

2020 Tax Rate Calculation Worksheet Signed

Notice of Public Hearing 2021 FY Budget

2020 Notice of Public Hearing on Tax Rate Increase

2020 Notice of Public Meeting to Vote on Tax Rate

PRESS RELEASE: Coronavirus COVID-19

August 27, 2020

Somervell County, Texas now has a total of 166 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 24 of our residents currently have active infections. At the time of writing this, all other active cases are currently in home isolation and care.  Using the guidelines from the State of Texas DSHS, we currently have 4 county residents who have died as a result of their COVID-19 infections.  Our condolences and prayers go out to their families and friends.  We also have had two known deaths of patients who either died with COVID-19, but from another cause, or died shortly after recovering from their COVID-19 infection.  Again, our thought and prayers go out to their families and friends during these very trying times.  All of these patients had significant medical problems and/or risk factors.  We have had 138 residents recover from this illness.

Current testing numbers are unavailable at this time.  We have been diligent to try and eliminate any duplicate tests or cases from our reported numbers.  I will try to give an update on testing numbers when they become available, or certainly by next week.

We currently have continuing significant evidence of community and institutional spread in Somervell County, as well as in our neighboring counties.  A large percentage of our community spread is between family members, however, recently the amount of community spread is decreasing. Overall activity of the virus in our county appears to be slowly decreasing.  The risk level to all Somervell County residents is still substantial.  Contact tracer activity is ongoing with all new positive results, and all results are being reported to the State of Texas per DSHS guidelines.  Most contact tracing is performed by Texas Health Trace, and can be initiated online if patients wish.

COVID-19 will continue to impact our community.  Now that we have gone back to school, I would like to remind people that social distancing, aggressive hand hygiene, and wearing masks in appropriate situations, are the best ways to protect themselves from getting the virus.  These same recommendations help to protect others, especially in the event someone has become infected, and has yet to show any signs or symptoms of the disease.  Data suggests that the 24 hours prior to the onset of the illness, is the most infectious point in the course of the illness.

As many have heard, a staff member at the school district has tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.  This staff member will be maintained on home isolation per GRISD/TEA protocols.  There have been no reported cases of COVID-19 among the students of GRISD at this time.  Currently, there is no evidence of spread within our schools.  I caution against assuming that we are “OK.”  It is far too early to assume that we will not have any spread due to opening schools.  I suspect that we will have some cases, so we should all work hard to limit the impact of those cases.

Please be mindful that we are all neighbors, respect the privacy of others and follow HIPAA guidelines.  It is Glen Rose Medical Center’s policy not to release any demographic or patient information due to HIPAA law.

Want to know more?

Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) website and Texas 2-1-1 remain the best sources of information for Somervell residents regarding COVID-19 testing and self-protection measures. DSHS updates their county-by-county tracking map daily at https://dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus/.

I would like to request that if you are ill, and think that illness might be COVID-19 due to your personal exposure history, please try to get tested.  Having accurate numbers to help guide decision making in our county and school district is very important.  If people are choosing to not be tested, it makes getting accurate numbers all that more difficult.  If you have any concerns about your status, please call your primary provider to further discuss testing options.

I appreciate everyone’s continued time and efforts in fighting this disease, none of us are in this alone.  Together we can keep our community strong, safe, and moving forward.

Thank you!

Steven Vacek, M.D.

Glen Rose HealthCare Inc.

Somervell County Local Health Authority

PRESS RELEASE: Coronavirus COVID-19

August 20, 2020

Somervell County, Texas now has a total of 154 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 27 of our residents currently have active infections. At the time of writing this, all other active cases are currently under in-home isolation and care.  Using the guidelines from the State of Texas DSHS, we currently have 3 county residents who have died as a result of their COVID-19 infections.  Our condolences and prayers go out to their families and friends.  We also have had two known deaths of patients who either died with COVID-19, but from another cause, or died shortly after recovering from their COVID-19 infection.  Again, our thought and prayers go out to their families and friends during these very trying times.  All of these patients had significant medical problems and/or risk factors.  We have had 122 residents recover from this illness.  There are 5 cases currently pending demographic confirmation.

Since 8/1/20 GRMC has done PCR testing on about 247 patients, with 37 positive results.  This is a positive test rate of about 15%.  Since March, GRMC has performed PCR testing on about 858 patients.  135 different patients have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19).  Duplicate positive test results have been removed from those totals.  Almost exactly half of those patients, are Somervell County residents.  The rest of our positive cases are people who had their tests performed in other counties.

We currently have continuing significant evidence of community and institutional spread in Somervell County, as well as in our neighboring counties.  A large percentage of our community spread is between family members, however, recently the amount of community spread is decreasing. The risk level to all Somervell County residents is still substantial.  Contact tracer activity is ongoing with all new positive results, and all results are being reported to the State of Texas per DSHS guidelines.  Most contact tracing is performed by Texas Health Trace, and can be initiated online if patients wish.

COVID-19 will continue to impact our community.  Now that we have gone back to school, I would like to remind people that social distancing, aggressive hand hygiene, and wearing masks in appropriate situations, are the best ways to protect themselves from getting the virus.  These same recommendations help to protect others, especially in the event someone has become infected, and has yet to show any signs or symptoms of the disease.  Data suggests that the 24 hours prior to the onset of the illness, is the most infectious point in the course of the illness.  Currently, there is no evidence of spread within our schools.  I caution against assuming that we are “OK.”  It is far too early to assume that we will not have any spread due to opening schools.  I suspect that we will have some cases, so we should all work hard to limit the impact of those cases.

Please be mindful that we are all neighbors, respect the privacy of others and follow HIPAA guidelines.  It is Glen Rose Medical Center’s policy not to release any demographic or patient information due to HIPAA law.

Want to know more?

Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) website and Texas 2-1-1 remain the best sources of information for Somervell residents regarding COVID-19 testing and self-protection measures. DSHS updates their county-by-county tracking map daily at https://dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus/.

As a community, we continue to experience a slight decrease in new cases over the last two weeks.  I am hopeful we may have peaked. We will know a lot more in the coming 3-4 weeks.  It is very hard to predict, now that we have gone back to school, how this will affect the rate of infections in our community.  We will continue to monitor the situation carefully.  I feel very comfortable in saying that I believe Mr. Rotan, the teachers, and staff of GRISD are doing everything they can to decrease the risks that this infection will pose to our children, and by extension, to our families.  This plan is very thorough, and comprehensive.  It also mitigates the risks to our teachers and staff, and will help to keep them healthy as well.  Parents, please recognize, that if your child is ill, it is not ok to give them Tylenol or ibuprofen in order to get them to school.  Please keep your children home if they are sick.

Unfortunately, further deaths in our community from COVID-19 are going to be difficult to avoid.  Please continue to work together to minimize these risks.

I appreciate everyone’s continued time and efforts in fighting this disease, none of us are in this alone.  Together we can keep our community strong, safe, and moving forward.

Thank you!

Steven Vacek, M.D.

Glen Rose HealthCare Inc.

Somervell County Local Health Authority

COVID 8-20-20

PRESS RELEASE: Coronavirus COVID-19

August 13, 2020

Somervell County, Texas now has a total of 134 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 26 of our residents currently have active infections. We currently have two patients in the hospital, and all other active cases are currently under in-home isolation and care.  Using the guidelines from the State of Texas DSHS, we currently have 2 county residents who have died as a result of their COVID-19 infections.  Our condolences and prayers go out to their families and friends.  We also have had two known deaths of patients who either died with COVID-19, but from another cause, or dies shortly after recovering from their COVID-19 infection.  Again, our thought and prayers go out to their families and friends during these very trying times.  All of these patients had significant medical problems and/or risk factors.  We have had 106 residents recover from this illness.

We currently have significant evidence of community and institutional spread in Somervell County, as well as in our neighboring counties.  A large percentage of our community spread is between family members.  This does continue to increase the risk level to all Somervell County residents.  Contact tracer activity is ongoing with all new positive results, and all results are being reported to the State of Texas per DSHS guidelines.

COVID-19 will continue to impact our community.  Now that we have gone back to school, I would like to remind people that social distancing, aggressive hand hygiene, and wearing masks in appropriate situations, are the best ways to protect themselves from getting the virus.  Those sane recommendations help to protect others, especially in the event someone has become infected, and has yet to show any signs or symptoms of the disease.  Data suggests that the 24 hours prior to the onset of the illness, is the most infectious point in the course of the illness.

Please be mindful that we are all neighbors, respect the privacy of others and follow HIPAA guidelines.  It is Glen Rose Medical Center’s policy not to release any demographic or patient information due to HIPAA law.

Want to know more?

Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) website and Texas 2-1-1 remain the best sources of information for Somervell residents regarding COVID-19 testing and self-protection measures. DSHS updates their county-by-county tracking map daily at https://dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus/.

As a community, there has been a slight decrease in new cases over the last week.  I am hopeful we may have peaked. We will know a lot more in the coming 3-4 weeks.  It is very hard to predict, now that we have gone back to school, how this will affect the rate of infections in our community.  We will continue to monitor the situation carefully.  I feel very comfortable in saying that I believe Mr. Rotan, the teachers, and staff of GRISD are doing everything they can to decrease the risks that this infection will pose to our children, and by extension, to our families.  This plan is very thorough, and comprehensive.  It also mitigates the risks to our teachers and staff and will help to keep them healthy as well.  Parents, please recognize, that if your child is ill, it is not ok to give them Tylenol or ibuprofen in order to get them to school.  Please keep your children home if they are sick.

Unfortunately, further deaths in our community from COVID-19 are going to be difficult to avoid.  Please continue to work together to minimize these risks.

As a community, look out for the safety and well-being of each other, especially the elderly and frail in our community.  Please wear masks in appropriate settings, practice social distancing, and good hand hygiene.  (I know I said that before…….but it is worth repeating!)

I appreciate you all for your continued time and efforts in fighting this disease, none of us are in this alone.  Together we can keep our community strong, safe, and moving forward.

Thank you!

Steven Vacek, M.D.

Glen Rose HealthCare Inc.

Somervell County Local Health Authority

SOCO 8-13-20

PRESS RELEASE: Coronavirus COVID-19

August 6, 2020

Somervell County, Texas now has a total of 109 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 23 of our residents currently have active infections. We currently have one patient in the hospital, and all other active cases are currently under in-home isolation and care.  Unfortunately, a patient died from COVID-19 related complications while hospitalized at Glen Rose Medical Center, and 3 other deaths have occurred, 1 with COVID-19 as the cause of death, 2 had causes of death unrelated to their COVID-19 infection.  All of these patients had significant medical problems and/or risk factors.  We would like to express our condolences to all the families affected by these deaths.  At some point one of the COVID-19 related deaths may be assigned to another county pending determination of the patient’s primary residence, per State of Texas guidelines.  We have had 84 residents recover from this illness.  We currently have one patient hospitalized with COVID-19 at GRMC.

We currently have significant evidence of community and institutional spread in Somervell County, as well as in our neighboring counties.  This does continue to increase the risk level to all Somervell County residents.  Contact tracer activity is ongoing with all new positive results, and all results are being reported to the State of Texas per DSHS guidelines.

COVID-19 will continue to impact our community.  As we get ready to go back to school, I would like to remind people that social distancing, aggressive hand hygiene, and wearing masks in appropriate situations, are the best ways to protect themselves from getting the virus, but also to protect others, in the event that they might have gotten infected, and just do not have and symptoms yet.

Please be mindful that we are all neighbors, respect the privacy of others and follow HIPAA guidelines.  It is Glen Rose Medical Center’s policy not to release any demographic or patient information due to HIPAA law.

Want to know more?

Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) website and Texas 2-1-1 remain the best sources of information for Somervell residents regarding COVID-19 testing and self-protection measures. DSHS updates their county-by-county tracking map daily at https://dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus/.

As a community, I am hopeful that we may have reached a peak. We will know a lot more in the coming week.  It is very hard to predict, what will happen when we go back to school, and we will watch our community very closely.  I feel very comfortable in saying that I believe Mr. Rotan, teachers, and staff of GRISD are doing everything they can to decrease the risks that this infection will pose to our children, and by extension, to our families.  This plan is very thorough, and comprehensive.  It also mitigates risks to our teachers and staff and will help to keep them healthy as well.  Parents, please recognize, that if your child is ill, it is not ok to give them Tylenol or ibuprofen in order to get them to school.  Please keep your children home if they are sick.

Unfortunately, further deaths in our community from COVID-19 are going to be difficult to avoid.  Please continue to work together to minimize these risks.  Ss a community, look out for the safety and well-being of each other, especially the elderly and frail in our community.  Please wear masks in appropriate settings, practice social distancing, and good hand hygiene.  (I know I said that before……. but it is worth repeating!)

I appreciate you all for your continued time and efforts in fighting this disease, none of us are in this alone.  Together we can keep our community strong, safe, and moving forward.

Thank you!

Steven Vacek, M.D.

Glen Rose HealthCare Inc.

Somervell County Local Health Authority

COVID 8-6-2020

PRESS RELEASE: Coronavirus COVID-19

July 30, 2020

Somervell County, Texas now has a total of 90 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 25 of our residents currently have active infections. We currently have one patient in the hospital, and all other active cases are currently under home isolation and care.  Unfortunately, a patient died from COVID-19 related complications while hospitalized at Glen Rose Medical Center.  We would like to express our condolences to their family.  Another Somervell county resident passed away earlier in the month while infected with COVID-19, however the cause of death was determined to be other chronic medical problems, and not directly related to their infection.  We have had 64 residents recover from this illness.

We currently have significant evidence of community and institutional spread in Somervell County, as well as in our neighboring counties.  This does continue to increase the risk level to all Somervell County residents.  Contact tracer activity is ongoing with all new positive results.

COVID-19 will continue to impact our community.  We need to continue to do our best to take care of each other, wash/sanitize our hands, wear our masks, practice respectful social distancing and look out for the vulnerable amongst us.

Please be mindful that we are all neighbors, respect the privacy of others and follow HIPAA guidelines.  It is Glen Rose Medical Center’s policy not to release any demographic or patient information due to HIPAA law.

Want to know more?

Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) website and Texas 2-1-1 remain the best sources of information for Somervell residents regarding COVID-19 testing and self-protection measures. DSHS updates their county-by-county tracking map daily at https://dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus/.

As a community, we will continue to experience more of this disease.  Unfortunately, further deaths in our community from COVID-19 are going to be difficult to avoid.  Please continue to work together to minimize these risks.  Please, as a community, look out for the safety and well-being of each other, especially the elderly and frail in our community.  Please wear masks in appropriate settings, practice social distancing, and good hand hygiene.  These simple things, while not perfect are having an impact in decreasing disease spread.  This will be inconvenient for some to do.  I ask that we all do it anyway.

I appreciate you all for your continued time and efforts in fighting this disease, none of us are in this alone.  Together we can keep our community strong, safe, and moving forward.

Thank you!

Steven Vacek, M.D.

Glen Rose HealthCare Inc.

Somervell County Local Health Authority

COVID 7-30-20

PRESS RELEASE: Coronavirus COVID-19

July 21, 2020

Somervell County, Texas now has a total of 59 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 16 of our residents currently have active infections. We currently have one patient in the hospital, and all other active cases are currently under home isolation and care.  We have had 43 residents recover from this illness, including two that required hospitalization.  We also have several probable cases that are under further investigation.  These patients are in home isolation while being evaluated further.  We currently have limited evidence of community spread, however investigations are ongoing into several new cases.  Contact tracer activity is ongoing.

Recently, Somervell County has fared well in comparison to some of our neighbors.  Our active cases had been dropping steadily.  Unfortunately, we are on a small island surrounded by communities with obvious community wide, ongoing spread.  This will continue to impact our community.  We need to continue to do our best to take care of each other, wash/sanitize our hands, wear our masks, practice respectful social distancing and look out for the vulnerable amongst us.

Please be mindful that we are all neighbors, respect the privacy of others and follow HIPAA guidelines.  It is Glen Rose Medical Center’s policy not to release any demographic or patient information due to HIPAA law.

Want to know more?

Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) website and Texas 2-1-1 remain the best sources of information for Somervell residents regarding COVID-19 testing and self-protection measures. DSHS updates their county-by-county tracking map daily at https://dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus/.

As a community, we will continue to experience more disease, and eventually someone in our community will become our first death from this disease.  I believe that deaths in our community from COVID-19 are going to be unavoidable.  The only way to minimize these risks, is for people to look out for the safety and well-being of each other, especially the elderly and frail in our community.  This will be inconvenient for some to do.  I ask that we all do it anyway.

I appreciate you all for your continued time and efforts in fighting this disease, none of us are in this alone.  Together we can keep our community strong, safe, and moving forward.

Thank you!

Steven Vacek, M.D.

Glen Rose HealthCare Inc.

Somervell County Local Health Authority

COVID 7-21-2020

PRESS RELEASE: Coronavirus COVID-19

July 6, 2020

Somervell County, Texas now has a total of 27 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 18 of our residents currently have active infections. All active cases are currently in home isolation.  We have had 9 residents recover from this illness, including two that required hospitalization.  We also have several probable cases that are under further investigation.  These patients are in home isolation while being evaluated further.  Contact tracer activity is ongoing.

All test results have been reported to Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Region 2/3 office in accordance with CDC and DSHS guidelines.

Every local resident should continue to follow Open Texas guidelines and make their best personal decision to protect themselves, their families, and businesses as we continue to work through this pandemic together.

In my opinion, people have a choice to make.  If COVID-19 infections continue to rise at this level, the government will have no choice but to shut more Texas businesses down.  The best way to avoid a repeat shut down is for people to wear masks, practice social distancing, and aggressively wash their hands.  This means wearing masks when in public, including churches, stores, and schools.  It also means wearing masks at social gatherings if indoors, and also out of doors for larger groups, especially if not following good social distancing practices.

As family and friends continue to celebrate our summertime, it is with the utmost importance that you wear a mask and follow social distancing guidelines if you attend any social gathering greater than 10 people.  In our city and county, numbers are rapidly climbing, in large part due to social gatherings.  Wash your hands, use hand sanitizer. If you have had a known or potential exposure, please quarantine at home and talk to your doctor about being evaluated for COVID-19.

Please be mindful that we are all neighbors, respect the privacy of others and follow HIPAA guidelines.  It is Glen Rose Medical Center’s policy not to release any demographic or patient information due to HIPAA law.

Want to know more?

Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) website and Texas 2-1-1 remain the best sources of information for Somervell residents regarding COVID-19 testing and self-protection measures. DSHS updates their county-by-county tracking map daily at https://dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus/.

As a community, we will continue to experience more disease, and eventually someone in our community will become our first death from this disease.  I believe that deaths in our community from COVID-19 are going to be unavoidable.  The only way to minimize these risks, is for people to look out for the safety and well-being of each other, especially the elderly and frail in our community.  This will be inconvenient for some to do.  I ask that we all do it anyway.

Thank you for your continued time and efforts in fighting this disease,

Steven Vacek, M.D.

Glen Rose HealthCare Inc.