Ochsner Health is a system that delivers health to the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and the Gulf South with a mission to Serve, Heal, Lead, Educate and Innovate.
Ochsner Health Donates 20,000 Windowed Masks to Schools & School Systems Across Louisiana
Ochsner Health kicked off the holiday season early this year by donating 20,000 windowed masks to schools and school systems across Louisiana. An innovative addition to a traditional cloth face covering, Ochsner’s clear windowed masks feature a vinyl window in the middle of a cloth mask, enabling one to see an individual’s lips and facial expressions.
In the Greater New Orleans Area, Ochsner is donating windowed masks to schools and school systems including Jefferson Parish Schools, NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS), St. Bernard Parish School District, St. John the Baptist Parish Public Schools, the Archdiocese of New Orleans and St. Mary Parish Schools.
“Recognizing and connecting with facial expressions – especially lips – is key for development in children as they learn to express themselves. The windowed masks enable the wearer to still maintain proper masking in accordance with CDC recommendations, while removing a potential communication barrier,” said Lacey Ellis, PhD, Program Director, Ochsner Hospital for Children’s Michael R. Boh Center for Child Development.
Concepted and designed by the Ochsner iO team in collaboration with a local New Orleans designer in Spring 2020, the windowed masks were first field tested by speech pathologists in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) at Ochsner Baptist – Louisiana’s only level IV NICU with a level IV Labor and Delivery unit – to help Ochsner’s tiniest patients begin to recognize facial features, a critical developmental milestone. Following a successful trial period with the speech pathologists in the NICU, who still use the windowed masks today, the Ochsner team explored other avenues to leverage this new type of mask – both in healthcare and non-healthcare settings like schools.
William Lennarz, MD, System Chair of Pediatrics, Ochsner Hospital for Children, said, “Just like healthcare workers seek to foster a connection with their patients, teachers rely on their facial expressions and lips when teaching critical skills such as phonics and foreign language or engaging with children with speech and language development challenges. With this donation, we hope to provide support for the impactful work teachers perform each and every day, ultimately contributing to a classroom environment in which every student, faculty and staff member can thrive and learn together.”
The donated windowed masks are being distributed by the schools and school systems to teachers and staff who rely on students seeing their lips to connect to the subject being taught, such as phonics for young children. These specialty areas include pre-kindergarten to second grade teachers, special education teachers and staff, school therapists and foreign language teachers.
Ochsner Hospital for Children's COVID-19 response efforts have included teaming up with the Louisiana Department of Education, local schools and school systems across the state to serve as a resource, providing evidence-based input and guidance on safety protocols and practices to foster a safe school environment. In accordance with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Ochsner advises all individuals ages two and older wear a face masks when in public spaces – including a classroom setting.
The windowed mask donations to school systems and schools are the latest wave of mask donations from Ochsner Health, which launched a “Masks On” campaign over the summer to educate the public about the importance of wearing a face mask in public. To help patients slow the spread of COVID-19, Ochsner mailed 100,000 complimentary cloth masks to both pediatric and adult patients this summer.
For the latest updates from Ochsner Health, visit ochsner.org. For COVID-19 resources for parents, visit ochsner.org/coronavirus. To learn more about Ochsner’s windowed masks visit ochsner.org/io/community-windowed-mask or email windowedmask.io@ochsner.org.
###
About Ochsner Health
Ochsner Health is a system that delivers health to the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and the Gulf South with a mission to Serve, Heal, Lead, Educate and Innovate. Ochsner Health is a not-for-profit committed to giving back to the communities it serves through preventative screenings, health and wellness resources and partnerships with innovative organizations that share our vision. Ochsner Health healed more than 876,000 people from across the globe in 2019, providing the latest medical breakthroughs and therapies, including digital medicine for chronic conditions and telehealth specialty services. Ochsner Health is a national leader, named the top hospital in Louisiana and a top children’s hospital by U.S. News & World Report. As Louisiana’s leading healthcare educator, Ochsner Health and its partners educate thousands of healthcare professionals annually. Ochsner Health is innovating healthcare by investing in new technologies and research to make world-class care more accessible, affordable, convenient and effective. Ochsner's team of more than 26,000 employees and 4,500 providers are working to reinvent the future of health and wellness in the region. To learn more about Ochsner Health, please visit www.ochsner.org. To transform your health, please visit www.ochsner.org/healthyyou.
