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global proportion can test the best of systems and partnerships. When tested during COVID-19, the part- nership between the medical school and hospital passed with flying colors, to the benefit of our community.”
Stanley Trooskin, MD, FACS, professor of surgery at the medical school and chief medical officer at RWJUH, expands on the partnership: “We could manage the surge of patients at the hospital because of our relationship as the primary teaching hospital for RWJMS. The hospital was able to expand staffing to manage
the COVID surge and provide sub- specialty care to our patients.”
With the medical school’s support, the hospital quadrupled its intensive care capacity and doubled its inpatient capacity during the worst of the crisis, according to Fredric Wondisford, MD, professor and chair, Department of Medicine. Interns, residents, and fellows interrupted their training to help care for patients.
John J. Gantner, president and CEO of RWJUH, explains, “As the hospital converted 15 different units to care for COVID-19 patients, many of our physicians stepped away from their specialties to care for this new cohort of patients. Anesthesiologists managed ICU patients. Subspecialists became primary care physicians. And more lined up to back-fill, taking on additional non-COVID cases to allow their colleagues to focus their energy on this pandemic.”
Not only did this partnership help clinicians care for the increase in patients, Dr. Wondisford says it also dramatically improved patient outcomes. RWJUH typically had shorter lengths of stay and lower mortality rates during the crisis than
other hospitals in the region.
Emergency Care during the Pandemic
During the height of the corona- virus crisis, the ED saw upwards of 40 potential COVID-19 patients a
day, according to Robert Eisenstein, MD, associate professor and chair, Department of Emergency Medicine.
A tent was erected in the ED’s ambulance bay, and a combination of telemedicine and nursing care was used to screen for fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Those who exhib- ited COVID-19 symptoms were either assessed and treated via telemedicine in the tent or taken directly to a room
in the ED. Those requiring admission to the hospital were formally tested using a swab. Healthier patients were given self-proning instructions—to aid oxygenation by lying on their stom- achs—and advised to recover at home.
All tests were sent to the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medi- cine, the first in the RWJBarnabas Health system to offer in-house testing, and patients were able to get their results on the same day, says Valerie A. Fitzhugh, MD, associate professor and interim chair of the department.
Patients who did not exhibit the criteria for COVID-19 were brought into the ED and treated as usual.
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