Jul 21, 2021
Hi folks!
We’ve been making a lot of progress since our last update. This is, of course, thanks to our fantastic IT team and our pilot users who did an excellent job at testing.
We are happy to share that ALL USERS can log on to the network beginning 7/22/21!
Please read the following information thoroughly & entirely, as there is critical information contained within it.
Here’s what you need to do:
- To get on to the network, you will either turn on your Wyse terminal or use the “internal access” icon on the desktop of your workstation laptop. You must be in the office and your device must be connected to the ethernet in order to connect.
- If you have yet to reset your password since the network disruption, you will need to do so upon initial login.
- Passwords must be reset on a laptop. They cannot be reset on Wyse terminals.
- If you need to reset your password and only have access to a Wyse terminal, program managers will oversee and coordinate access to a laptop.
- More information on PW reset can be found here, step 2: https://www.wedgepc.com/instructions-password-reset-email-access/
- The network will be available for login early in the morning on Thursday so you can begin your work right away.
- Once you are back on the network, things should feel pretty much back to “normal” except for a few known issues (listed below). You should be able to do everything you were able to do before the network disruption on 6/25, so feel free to dig in and get started!
- If your laptop is not working as expected or you see something very strange in the system – please report that to your Division Director right away.
- VPN access will not be available immediately and may not be available at all. Since there is no remote access, all work must be done on-site.
Known issues to be aware of & issues that do not need to be reported:
- Swipeclock might not automatically pop up when you login. We are working on this, so in the meantime, don’t forget to clock in and out!
- myEvolv “production” is online and ready to go. myEvolv “Development” is also online and ready for use.
- MS Office has been upgraded, so its products (Outlook, Word, etc.) may look different.
- If you get an MS Teams pop up upon login, you can close it.
- If prompted to login to Office, you may do so.
- If you get “licensing error” alerts, click on the option to “Sign OUT” and then sign back in using your NEW password. If you continue to have problems, report to your supervisor. You should be able to continue working until we are able to support you.
- Printing and scanning is anticipated to be available on Thursday when you get in the system. We will let managers know if this changes.
- You may see files that had “modified on” dates between 6/25 – 7/15/21 even though you know they were not. These dates are due to the network disruption & restoration, so no need to worry about those changes.
- You might see temporary files (often start with the symbols ~$) and files called “thumbs.db”. We know about these and they are nothing to worry about. Do not delete these files.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out. You should first approach your supervisor with questions and issues. They can troubleshoot and escalate as needed.
We appreciate your patience over the last weeks as we worked to get our system back online!
Jessica Griffith, Vice President of Compliance & CQI
on behalf of:
Operations Committee
Division Directors
IT Director
Jul 20, 2021
Good Afternoon,
In light of the recent increase in Delta variant COVID infections in other areas of the country, now is a good time to review the importance of getting your COVID vaccination. The vaccines have been proven to be safe and effective, and even the extremely small number of vaccinated people who have had breakthrough COVID infections have experienced mostly mild symptoms – in other words, it is 100% effective in preventing hospitalization and death.
While we do not currently have a policy requiring staff to be vaccinated, we do have several requirements about staff notification of vaccination status and communication with members about vaccines. (see below; also, full policy emailed Wedge-wide on 7/20/21). All staff are required to be familiar with this policy, and report their vaccination status as required. We are currently exploring options for making vaccination mandatory, and will update you about this in the coming weeks.
- VACCINATION FOR COVID-19
- Wedge currently does not mandate vaccination for staff or members, but STRONGLY RECOMMENDS that all staff and members be vaccinated.
- Staff who are vaccinated must submit a copy or photo of their vaccination card to HR upon completion of their vaccination.
- Staff who decline to be vaccinated must send a statement to that effect, with a reason for their declining the vaccine, to HR immediately (email is sufficient).
- Staff should not ask other staff about their vaccination status. It is appropriate for a staff member to share with others that they are vaccinated, but this information should not be solicited from other staff, and staff have a right to not answer this question if asked by a fellow staff member. Human Resources will ask for this information, and will keep it in a confidential medical file; staff are required to cooperate with Human Resources in providing this information.
- Wedge as an organization is pro-vaccine. Staff are required to encourage all of their members to get vaccinated, and provide them with resources to access vaccination sites. Staff who discourage or withhold vaccine resources from members will be subject to counseling and progressive disciplinary action.
- Staff are required to keep tracking of the vaccination status of all members in their caseload at all times. Staff must obtain a copy of the vaccination card for vaccinated members, and upload to the member’s medical record. Management will occasionally ask for reports on these vaccination data.
- Go here: Client –> Client Info –> health info –> immunizations
- Click “New Manual Event” and “COVID-19”
- Enter “dose(s)” –
- 1 if first dose
- 2 if second dose
- Enter “actual date” as date of vaccination
- Enter “Provider” as location vaccination was administered
- Upload a copy of the card
- In “symptom/reaction” you can enter any side effects or symptoms the member experienced as a result of the vaccination
- Our partners at Genoa Healthcare can now offer the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to our staff, as well as friends and family members of staff, and our members. To schedule an appointment, call the Genoa pharmacy at our Venango site: extension 4080.
If you have any questions about your responsibility regarding your personal vaccination status, please contact HR. If you have questions about communicating with members and documenting their vaccination status, please see your supervisor.
Thank you for your cooperation!
– Jason
Jason R. McLaughlin, MS, MSS, LCSW, CPRP
Chief Executive Officer
Jul 13, 2021
Hi everyone,
We’ve got an exciting update to share today!
We have been working hard to get myEvolv back online. We are opening up access slowly to ensure a smooth roll out, and expect to have everyone reconnected by the beginning of next week (if not earlier!). Instructions will be posted on the staff portal when folks can start logging on.
Some folks have asked, so as an FYI – any documents that are saved to the local laptop’s “My Documents” folders are only available on the laptop and will not transfer to your network “My Documents”.
We know how tough it is not to be able to use MS Office products (e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint) or have access to items saved in your network “My Documents”. It is crippling not to have access to such basic tools. Please know that we are working around the clock (literally!) to bring our system back online as quickly as possible – and also as safely and securely as possible. We appreciate everyone’s patience with the process, and recognize all that you are doing to keep the ship running despite these technical handicaps. We will continue to provide updates to keep everyone as in the loop as possible.
To end on a positive note: if everything continues on the same trajectory that it is currently on, things are looking promising to feel a bit more like “normal” sometime next week. That doesn’t mean we will be back to pre-network-disruption functionality by next week, but we should continue to feel relief as more and more comes back online.
Looking forward to sharing more good news with you all in the coming days.
Sincerely,
Jessica Griffith, Vice President of Compliance & CQI
on behalf of:
Operations Committee
Division Directors
IT Director
Jul 12, 2021
Hi all,
We are pleased to share that email is now available!
- Access is through webmail only at this time. Email via outlook and Wedge-approved cell phones is not yet functional.
- Webmail can only be accessed via a Wedge laptop that is connected to the Wedge network from the office. Webmail is not accessible via Wyse terminals. Webmail is not accessible remotely.
Instructions for changing your password and accessing email are below.
- Staff that use Wedge laptops already connected to the Wedge ethernet can skip to Step 2.
- Staff that use Wedge laptops already connected to the Wedge ethernet AND have already reset their password since network disruption can skip to Step 3.
- If you experience any issues during this process, alert your supervisor who will help you troubleshoot and communicate your issues to IT as needed.
STEP 1: Connecting to the Wedge network
- Webmail can only be accessed via a Wedge laptop that is connected to the Wedge ethernet network from the office. Webmail is not accessible via Wyse terminals. Webmail is not accessible remotely.
- If your laptop is not connected to the Wedge network:
- Login to your laptop as usual
- Unplug the ethernet cord from the Wyse terminal and plug it into the ethernet port on your laptop.
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- Logoff from your account. To logoff:
- Select the Start button in the bottom left corner
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- On the top left side of the Start menu, click the three lines
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- Click your name, and when the menu pops up select Sign out.
- To proceed, you must log back in to your account.
STEP 2: Changing Your Password
- When prompted to login for the first time since network disruption, you will be required to reset your password.
- Follow the login process as prompted by the laptop, and when the system alerts you to change your password, click “ok”.
- Follow password reset prompts from system.
- Passwords will be required to follow the below complexity requirements:
- Passwords must be at least 12 characters
- Passwords must contain at least 3 of the following
- Numbers
- Lowercase letters
- Uppercase letters
- Special characters (!@#$)
STEP 3: Accessing your email (Web Mail)
- Open up a browser while connected to the Wedge ethernet network and go to: https://mail.wedgepc.com/owa
- NOTE: Webmail can only be accessed via a Wedge laptop that is connected to the Wedge network from the office. Webmail is not accessible via Wyse terminals. Webmail is not accessible remotely.
- Enter in your username and password in the following format:
- Domain\user name: username@wedgepc.com (ex: jgriffith@wedgepc.com)
- Password: Your NEW network password
- Click “Sign in”
- Welcome back to your email!
- Please note, as a result of the network disruption:
- Due to our system’s storage limits, some emails sent to you during the disruption may not have been delivered to your mailbox.
- Email is only available on webmail at this time. Email via outlook and Wedge-approved cell phones is not yet functional. We will update staff when email is again functional through these methods.
Password Policy:
- Passwords change every 90 days
- Passwords must be at least 12 characters
- Passwords must contain at least 3 of the following
- Numbers
- Lowercase letters
- Uppercase letters
- Special characters (!@#$)
- Accounts will lock out after 5 invalid attempts. Accounts will be locked out for 15 minutes after the 5 failed attempts.
Jul 6, 2021
Hi everyone,
As you now know, on Friday 6/25/21 Wedge experienced a network disruption that required us to take our systems offline in order to isolate and assess the nature of the disruption. We are now working with a team of third party specialists who have been working around the clock to help us restore our network as quickly as possible.
At this point it is safe to project that we will be offline through the rest of this week.
Last week we believed we would be able to have the electronic health record back online by the end of this week (7/9/21). In working with our EHR vendor, that timeline has been extended. We expect MyEvolv to be online as quickly as about 3 weeks from now.
In the meantime, we are working to get our email back online. We should have a better sense of when email may be available in a few days.
Documents are available on this staff portal for download; if you need a document that is not on the portal, communicate that to your supervisor.
As a reminder, you are expected to protect client information. No client information is to be stored on personal devices (computers, laptops, phones), or exchanged via personal accounts (emails, texts, etc.). If you have any questions about protecting client data during “unprecedented times” like this one, please refer to THIS POST on the portal. Seek supervision on any additional questions you have.
When we are ready for folks to log back on to the network, we will post directions for password reset on this portal.
Thank you to every single staff for your efforts to keep services running during this catastrophic disruption. We know you are doing the best you can with what you have available to you, and this does not go unrecognized. Right now, our primary focus is to ensure our members’ basic needs are met and they remain connected to vital treatment. Also be sure to take time out to check in with yourself and ensure your own needs are being met; do not hesitate to reach out and communicate your needs.
Keep checking in with this staff portal as well. We will post general updates weekly, and more frequently if there are significant updates.
Sincerely,
Jessica Griffith, Vice President of Compliance & CQI
on behalf of:
Operations Committee
Division Directors
IT Director
Jul 30, 2020
As you may know, COVID cases are spiking in many areas of the country, with daily positive tests increasing considerably, and deaths increasing as well. The PA Department of Health maintains a list of COVID hotspots, and advises on whether it is safe to travel, and if one must quarantine upon return. We have an obligation to keep our fellow staff and clients safe, and must all accept the reality, based in medicine and science, that this is an active pandemic, and not a time to travel, attend parties or large gatherings, or otherwise act in an unsafe manner that puts others at risk.
Immediately and until further notice, employees with any on-site or in-community work assignments who are seeking approval of vacation and planning to travel for vacation must report their destination (city, state, country) and means of travel (e.g., airplane) to their supervisor and Human Resources prior to the vacation being approved. If an employee has already received approval as of today, they must now report their destination and means of travel immediately.
Human Resources and the CEO will review each request, and utilize current data about COVID hotspots to determine if the employee must quarantine upon return. If it is determined that the employee must quarantine, the employee must do so for 14 days after their return, and they may not report to work. During those 14 days, they may use accrued vacation time (not sick time) or be unpaid. Please note that any staff who travel or intentionally engage in otherwise unsafe behavior and who do not report it to their supervisor and HR will face serious consequences if it is discovered after the fact.
This policy is being implemented in order to protect our employees from unnecessary exposure to COVID. It is advised that employees use common sense about their vacation plans during this pandemic. This is the summertime, when many of us try to engage in fun activities with family and friends, and enjoy some vacation or travel. It is important to take time off, but this is not the time to travel internationally, by airline, or to a “hotspot” – it creates an unnecessary risk to yourself, our team members, and our clients. As much as we all want to relax and disconnect from work, we must do so in a manner that is safe.
Jason R. McLaughlin, MS, MSS, LCSW, CPRP
Chief Executive Officer
