Hospital preparedness for COVID-19 pandemic: experience from department of medicine at Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System

Postgrad Med. 2020 Aug;132(6):489-494. doi: 10.1080/00325481.2020.1761668. Epub 2020 May 12.

Abstract

The 2019-2020 pandemic Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has inundated hospital systems globally, as they prepare to accommodate surge of patients requiring advanced levels of care. Pandemic preparedness has not been this urgently and widely needed in the last several decades. According to epidemiologic predictions, the peak of this pandemic has still not been reached, and hospitals everywhere need to ensure readiness to care for more patients than they usually do, and safety for healthcare workers who strive to save lives. We share our hospital-wide rapid preparedness and response to COVID-19 to help provide information to other healthcare systems globally.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV2; clinical features; hospital preparedness; how to prepare; pandemic; response.

MeSH terms

  • Betacoronavirus
  • COVID-19
  • Change Management
  • Civil Defense* / methods
  • Civil Defense* / organization & administration
  • Connecticut
  • Coronavirus Infections* / epidemiology
  • Coronavirus Infections* / prevention & control
  • Hospitals, Veterans / organization & administration*
  • Humans
  • Infection Control* / methods
  • Infection Control* / organization & administration
  • Organizational Innovation*
  • Pandemics* / prevention & control
  • Pneumonia, Viral* / epidemiology
  • Pneumonia, Viral* / prevention & control
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Veterans Health Services / trends