Message to the Community

Dear Community Partners:

As we enter the fall flu season, our region—in fact, the whole northern hemisphere—expects to be hit with a one-two punch we haven’t experienced before: the seasonal flu plus the H1N1 virus. That’s why Main Line Health is taking extra steps to ensure that our hospitals, our staff, and our community are as prepared as possible.

This Web site, for instance, will include comprehensive information to help you stay healthy, get better if you do get the flu, and take advantage of our community outreach initiatives. Our staff is closely monitoring and adhering to the clinical guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and our Bryn Mawr, Lankenau, Paoli, Riddle and Bryn Mawr Rehab hospitals have taken appropriate precautions to stock needed supplies and minimize exposure of our patients and visitors to any flu virus.

By itself, any seasonal flu is serious enough. Every year, 36,000 people die and more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from seasonal flu-related complications, according to the CDC. The seasonal flu vaccine, now available, can help you stay healthy.

H1N1 is presenting us with an additional flu virus no one had seen before last year’s flu season. It reached our area last spring, and since then has spread to communities around the world. Fortunately, for most individuals, its impact has generally been mild to moderate. Because a vaccine for H1N1 may be in limited supply, basic protection and prevention measures, like frequent hand washing and sneezing etiquette, are especially important.

To help our region stay as healthy as possible during this double dose of the flu season, I encourage you to bookmark this page as your clearinghouse for information on Flu Season 2009-2010. And if you do need to see one of our doctors or visit one of our Emergency Rooms, know that we will be prepared to provide superior care.

Jack Lynch
CEO, Main Line Health