HJNO May/Jun 2020

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS I  MAY / JUN 2020 11 Edwards and other officials, we cancelled elective procedures and reduced in-person appointments. We also changed our visitor policy and restricted access to our facili- ties, and added entry screenings. These were tough decisions, but necessary to reduce the spread. We’ve reconfigured our hos- pital waiting areas and common spaces to incorporate social distancingmeasures.And we’ve enhanced cleaning and disinfection efforts across all of our facilities. Technology, including utilizing virtual visits for appoint- ments, has been a huge and positive change. Our providers have learned a new way to care for patients, and we expect the use of telemedicine to continue. Use of mobile devices and apps for appointment check-in and other touchpoints that were previously handled in-person will be enhanced as well. Editor Respiratory therapists are telling us that more ventilators won’t solve the problem with COVID-19 cases unless they are equipped with the advancedmodes needed to ventilate ARDS patients. They are worried that they don’t have the right equipment to save lives. Does Ochsner have the proper equipment to ventilate ARDS patients? Hart  We have plenty of the appropriate ventilators to take care of patients across our system. As we’ve learned more about COVID-19, providers have utilized alterna- tive treatments, including BiPAP and CPAP, and made efforts to only intubate if abso- lutely necessary. This is done to improve patient outcomes, not to preserve supplies. InApril, Ochsner joined the President of the United States, theAmerican Hospital Asso- ciation, and other leading health systems to establish a national ventilator sharing pro- gram. With this disease, surges will occur in different regions at different times, somov- ing supplies to heavily impacted areas is a smart approach. Editor  Has there been diversion of patients to or from other facilities? Hart The nice thing about working for a larger organization is the ability to move patients around based on capacity at dif- ferent hospitals and patient needs. When needed, we transferred patients to give them the level of care they needed in the safest environment possible. Editor  At the height of the curve, how crowded were your ERs? How many of your team members were directly addressing the pandemic? Hart  ER volume was never as problematic as the critical nature of the patients pre- senting. We saw a lower volume of patients than average, but those who came in were extremely sick. ERs, critical care/ICUs, hospital medicine, and pulmonology have focused their efforts on COVID-19 patient care. We’ve had surgeons, anesthesiolo- gists, and other specialists volunteer to support those teams most impacted on the frontlines. Editor  How is your team holding up? Hart The team is holding up well. We’re at about seven weeks from our first COVID- 19 patient hospitalization, and we’ve had quite the journey. We’ve seen improvements in the last week or two, from a reduction in the number of patients, and establish- ing more comfort in caring for COVID-19 patients. This virus was brand new a few months ago, and we’ve gotten into a rhythm “To get back to ‘normal’, we need to go to a containment strategy instead of just a mitigation strategy.”

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