Member Spotlight: Boston Hospitals During COVID-19

WRITTEN BY STEPHANIE EGGERS, FELLOW

A Better City members are stepping up during these uncertain times and leading efforts in preserving community health with their responses to COVID-19. Their actions reduce community exposure, increase awareness, and assist the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable residents. This week’s spotlight focuses on the work of hospitals in the A Better City Community. Not only are these institutions working tirelessly to treat those who are COVID-positive, but also find new ways to safely deliver medical care to patients in the midst of the pandemic.

PUTTING COMMUNITY FIRST

Our members in the healthcare sector are on the frontline of COVID-19 response efforts. Their essential workforce puts community first, prioritizing treatment to COVID-positive patients, development of treatments or vaccines for the virus, and care for non-COVID-19 patients.  

  • The CEO of Partners HealthCare is serving as the co-chair on the steering committee for the Boston Resiliency Fund, which aims to direct funds to food-insecure families, support first responders and other frontline workers, and provide technology to Boston students for remote learning while schools are closed. The organization also donated $1 million to the fund Partners HealthCare is directly supporting their employees by providing childcare for those in need and temporary housing so workers can limit the risk of transmitting the virus to their families.1
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIMDC)2 and Boston Medical Center (BMC)are supporting their employees through the Healthcare Heroes Fund and its Supply and Equipment Donations drive.
  • In order to prepare the medical system for an influx of COVID-19 patients as the pandemic progressed, BIMDC built a new inpatient building to create 30 ICU beds to increase capacity for patients, and Partners HealthCare has supported the establishment of the Boston Hope Medical Center to create a temporary space for patients.

In combination with these measures to support employees and patients, hospitals have improved communication with the public with extensive resources on COVID-19 and any associated impacts.

  • Partners HealthCare has launched a texting campaign that anyone can sign up for that includes updates on COVID-19 in the region and information on the disease.
  • Boston Children’s Hospital, BMC, Partners HealthCare, and BIDMC all have online community resource pages to support those that are struggling during these times including information about medical care, local and federal policies, and financial resources.

There are multiple research efforts going on to better understand the virus that causes COVID-19 and find an effective treatment or vaccine for the disease across our members.

  • Boston Children’s Hospital is on the forefront of research on how COVID-19 impacts children and their susceptibility to the disease.4
  • Partners HealthCare is launching a trial in the U.S. to test the effectiveness of a Japanese drug for COVID-19 as well as supporting local clinical research.
  • Dana Farber Cancer Institute is conducting research to test the possibility of using anti-body therapy to treat patients that contract the virus.5

ADAPTING SERVICES TO SUPPORT PATIENT NEEDS DURING COVID-19

Patient care and health is the central goal of our member hospitals and they are working diligently through the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that the proper measures are in place to ensure that patients being cared for in facilities and patients that must seek urgent care are not put at risk of contracting the virus.

  • Partners HealthCare6, Dana Farber7, and BIDMC8 have all explicitly outlined a strict mask policy in all facilities for patients and any approved visitors or escorts.
  • BMC9, Dana Farber, and BIDMC have all banned visitors with exceptions to those that are accompanying a child or another individual that requires a caregiver, including those with disabilities, or those that are pre-approved. Dana Farber has instead created designated “cell phone” lots where escorts can await patients and use their phone to keep in contact during the appointment.10 BIDMC is allowing escorts in outpatient areas if they are properly screened.
  • Boston Children’s Hospital is limiting visitors to just two parents of the child receiving care however no visitors under 18, including siblings, are allowed to visit or accompany children to appointments. If parents develop symptoms or test positive for COVID-19, they can temporarily designate another visitor in their place.11
  • Partners HealthCare had previously banned all visitors in mid-March, however, released an updated policy in early April that allows for necessary visitors to accompany patients if they comply with the mask policy.12

In order to not overburden the medical system in the midst of the pandemic, different member hospitals have taken measures to reduce the number of patients visiting facilities for non-emergency appointments or procedures.

  • Partners HealthCare, BMC, Dana Farber, and BIDMC have all adopted “telehealth” measures to facilitate virtual or phone appointments when possible and have resources on their websites on what patients that utilize these services need to know in order to make them a valuable substitute at this time. 13 14
  • Boston Children’s Hospital, BMC, Partners HealthCare, and BIDMC have all taken active measures to curtail elective procedures to reduce unnecessary exposure and risk.

PLANS FOR REOPENING

Under Governor Baker’s plan for reopening the state, there are clear instructions that hospitals and community health centers can resume limited in-person care beginning on May 18, with other healthcare facilities following on 5/25 if they have adequate private PPE stocks and are not reliant on the state’s stock and have proper screening protocols for employees and patients. Hospitals and other healthcare facilities must also have a minimum of 25% of ICU and the total bed capacity to reopen pediatric ICUs as they reopen.

BIDMC has announced that they will resume non-urgent or elective appointments and procedures on May 23, maintaining pandemic policies including their hospital-wide mask policy and baring individuals that have cold or flu-like symptoms, have traveled to a high-risk area within 14 days, or come in direct contact with a COVID-positive person within 14 days.

Because of our member hospitals’ unique role fighting on the frontlines in face of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential they take the proper actions to inform and protect the public, especially vulnerable populations, from COVID-19 while also keeping current patients safe as they pursue treatment for various illnesses. BIDMC and Partners HealthCare have assisted in building emergency facilities to treat COVID-19 patients in light of an increased number of patients. Boston Children’s Hospital, Partners HealthCare, and Dana Farber Cancer Institute are all conducting research to aid in the search for a vaccine or cure for COVID-19. All member hospitals have supported telehealth and delayed non-emergent care to protect more people from being exposed due to the pandemic. As the state progresses towards reopening, hospitals will have to resume normal activities while balancing not fueling a second wave of cases.


SOURCES:

1 https://www.partners.org/COVID-19/COVID-19-Information.aspx#Strategy

2 https://www.bidmc.org/give

3 https://www.bmc.org/covid19relief

4.https://www.childrenshospital.org/conditions-and-treatments/conditions/c/coronavirus/research

5.https://blog.dana-farber.org/insight/2020/04/institute-researchers-at-forefront-of-development-of-antibody-therapy-for-covid-19/?_ga=2.186122153.1436521906.1589810300-1525056706.1589810300

6 https://www.partners.org/COVID-19/Patients/What-Should-Patients-Do.aspx#mask

https://www.dana-farber.org/covid-19-facts-and-resources/covid-19-information-for-our-patients/

https://www.bidmc.org/disclaimer-pages/covid-19-update

https://www.bmc.org/covid-19#visitorpolicy

10 https://www.dana-farber.org/covid-19-facts-and-resources/covid-19-information-for-our-patients/

11 https://www.childrenshospital.org/conditions-and-treatments/conditions/c/coronavirus/visitors

12 https://www.partners.org/COVID-19/Visitor-Policy.aspx#English

13 https://www.partners.org/COVID-19/Patients/What-Should-Patients-Do.aspx#appointments

14 https://www.bidmc.org/disclaimer-pages/covid-19-update

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