Ready and able Ascension’s successful infection prevention journey prepared us well for the COVID-19 pandemic “ In everything we do now, we do it as one Ascension. Never has that been more evident than during our response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” — JOSEPH R. IMPICCICHE, JD, MHA, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ASCENSION
As Ascension President and CEO Joe Impicciche noted in his “Welcome” column in the summer 2020 Good Day Ascension, the agility and innovation that characterized Ascension’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic were rooted in our journey as a unified ministry, as well as a 10-year effort involving clinicians and others from across the ministry, including representatives from Ascension Medical Group and the medical staff, nursing, infection preventionists (IPs), pharmacy, clinical professional development, The Resource Group, Medxcel and TouchPoint. “Thanks to the tremendous work of our clinicians over the past decade-plus, we were well positioned to respond to the pandemic,” Joe said. Alongside their colleagues on the medical staff and in nursing, Ascension IPs worked tirelessly to develop isolation precautions, discharge and home care instructions for all care settings, screening protocols, and guidelines for critical staffing workflows. In collaboration with The Resource Group and vendor partners, they developed solutions for securing and maintaining supplies of needed personal protective equipment for front-line clinicians. With support from clinical professional development associates, they provided ongoing education and training for front-line caregivers on managing patients with COVID-19.
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G O O D DAY A S C E N S I O N / A S C E N S I O N .O R G
The Infection Prevention team at Ascension St. John Hospital in Detroit at a conference before social-distancing and mask-wearing measures were put in place, from left (standing), Debi Hopfner, MSN, RN, CIC; Rebecca Battjes, MPH, CIC; and Jennifer Madigan, MPH, CIC; and (sitting), Michelle Flood, MSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC; and Tamika Anderson, MPH, MLS(ASCP)cm.
Like a majority of Ascension associates, IP team members worked long hours without time off from the beginning of the pandemic. A quote from pastor and author Robert H. Schuller became the IP team’s motto during its weekly calls: “Tough times pass, but tough people last.” Each step in the evolution of Ascension’s infection prevention journey helped prepare the ministry for the unprecedented challenge of COVID-19. STEP 1. Hospital Engagement Network In 2011, Ascension was one of just five healthcare systems selected to participate in the two-year CDC Partnership for
