The final story in our COVID-19 Reports series highlights a New York hospital’s agile and courageous response to this brutal crisis.
Collaboration wins in the battle against COVID-19
Partner background:
SCP Health had a strong existing partnership with this large New York facility’s Emergency Medicine (EM) program. During COVID-19, the partnership grew to new levels as corporate, administrative, and clinical teams all worked closely together to prepare and implement the necessary measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and protect the local community.
Storyline:
In preparation for COVID-19, leaders and department representatives at this facility began meeting weekly to organize their response to the pandemic—though it had not yet hit the area on a large scale. This meeting was essential as it united leadership and teams to set solid goals, develop and implement actionable plans to achieve those goals, and monitor progress or pivot as needed.
Key initiatives included:
1. Alternative triage area
This tent response area was run by SCP’s EM staff, working actively to screen any patient who presented across the entire campus. Initially, the tent was only seeing 5-10 patients per day, but as the curve began to rise, the staff began seeing over 100 patients per day in the tents. In the words of the EM medical director, “The Alternative Triage Area was the true face of, and gatekeeper for, the entire hospital amid the COVID-19 crisis.”
2. Sectioned emergency department
To keep patients and hospital employees as protected as possible, the ED was sectioned off into “clean” and “COVID-19/Person Under Investigation (PUI)” sides. This eliminated internal contamination and created efficiencies for the providers who were treating patients who had tested positive or who were suspected to be infected with COVID-19. The impact of this strategy was immense; despite being in an area that was 33% community-positive for COVID-19, only 6% (3 out of 50) of this facility’s providers spent any time away from work due to infection.
3. Comprehensive PPE supply
Particularly in this area of the country, the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) was a serious concern. In the face of nationwide shortages, SCP’s operational team worked diligently to supply this facility with necessary PPE so that clinicians could safely continue their important work and patients could comfortably access care.
To learn more
For more details about this facility’s story and to explore how SCP can support your organization in both normal and crisis times, please contact us.
