HJNO May/Jun 2020

54 MAY / JUN 2020 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS Juan Gershanik, MD President Orleans Parish Medical Society (OPMS) COLUMN MEDICAL SOCIETY Jefferson and Orleans Parish Medical Societies Play an Important Role in Informing Physicians Throughout COVID-19 Pandemic ON MARCH 24, 2020, Jefferson Parish Medical Society and Orleans Parish Med- ical Society hosted the first of several COVID-19 all-physician conference calls. The teleconferences were open to all phy- sicians, residents, and medical school stu- dents. The goal was to provide physicians in the Greater New Orleans area with an opportunity to access the most updated information about COVID-19 from the Louisiana Department of Health and oth- ers in a clear, consistent manner to help physicians effectively communicate with, screen, and refer patients appropriately. Each teleconference began with introduc- tions by presidents Tanya Busenlener, MD, JPMS, and Juan J. Gershanik, MD, OPMS, followed by information and updates from guest speakers, and a question and answer section at the end. “In this very difficult time, the leaders of JPMS feel it is very important to keep phy- sicians informed and up to date on the lat- est information,” said Dr. Busenlener. “We are thankful for the willingness of physi- cians on the front line to make themselves available to us for these updates.” “I am proud of the role that Orleans and All-physician weekly teleconferences, real-time social media, and e-mail messages to members provide news, updates, and information in a timely basis. Jefferson Parish Medical Societies have played in helping experts like Dr. Kanter deliver important physician-to-physician information to our peers,” said Dr. Ger- shanik. “This opportunity for all of us to gather by teleconference to listen to up- dates, share experiences, and ask the ex- perts questions is invaluable to the many physicians and medical students faced with delivering healthcare during this most challenging time.” Over 250 participants registered for the first teleconference, which featured Joseph Kanter, MD, MPH, assistant state health officer, Louisiana Department of Health; and Marcus Bachhuber, MD, chief medical officer, Louisiana Department of Health, Medicaid. Dr. Kanter provided the initial update during the March 24 teleconference. He stated that testing at that time was too small and too late to be effective to iso- late initial cases, and containment was no longer practical. He told the audience that the primary focus lead by the Lou- isiana State Department of Health was on mitigation, including increasing acute care capacity, preserving PPE, and limit- ing further person-to-person spread. Dr. Kanter informed the physicians on the call that LDH believed that all New Orle- ans area hospitals would be at maximum capacity in the near future, and hospitals were working to increase capacity within their four walls by expanding patient care areas, and converting existing space into ICU rooms and negative pressure airborne isolation rooms. Additionally, non-tradi- tional spaces like the Ernest Morial Con- vention Center and local hotels are being readied for the provision of acute care. At the same time, hospitals continued caring for non-COVID patients placed in surgical and trauma rooms. Dr. Kanter also expressed dire concern about the difficulty of acquiring PPE, and referred to the various non-profit organi- zations that were working with all to ac- quire necessary protection for front-line workers. Other important healthcare challenges expressed by Dr. Kanter in the first tele- conference included the growing mental health crisis within the medical commu- nity. He said that physicians were stressed because they are putting their own health

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