The CCI COVID-19 Response

On March 5th, the first three Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the state of Maryland were confirmed. In the blink of an eye, the world was turned upside down and we and our lives were all thrust into a moment made for the history books.

In the months that followed, the number of COVID cases exploded and within eight months, the state registered more than 130,000 confirmed cases and 4,000 deaths. Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, both served by CCI Health & Wellness Services, have the state’s highest COVID positive and death rates. Since that fateful day, CCI has remained open, serving at the front line of a battle that is predicted to ratchet up in the months ahead and produce physical, mental, and financial effects that will linger.

CCI Staff providing drive through and walk up testing in Greenbelt, MD

“From the beginning we knew the community we serve was going to be hit the hardest. We felt deeply the desire to be there to offer medical services and to keep those who might be at greater risk as healthy and strong as possible,” says CCI President and CEO, Sonya Bruton, Psy.D., MPA. “We also knew that we were essential to keeping our local hospitals from being overwhelmed.”

We felt deeply the desire to be there to offer medical services and to keep those who might be at greater risk as healthy and strong as possible.

That desire pushed CCI to lean into the storm in spite of the local emergency orders impacting operations and activate protocols to ensure that services would be available in whatever form necessary to keep people safe and slow the outbreak, including:

Implementing best public health practices proven effective for dealing with infectious disease outbreaks.

Deploying personal protective equipment (PPE) inventory and strategizing how to restock supplies.

Keeping staff who were pregnant or at-risk away from direct patient contact.

Accelerating and expanding telemedicine efforts, with research, adaption and training conducted within two weeks.

Establishing and improving operational guidelines to ensure greater safety of staff and patients.

“At a time when the only certainty was the rapid and daily change, we continued to remain strong in our efforts to support the members of our communities and our staff,” said Dr. Bruton. “Our initial strategic response turned out to be what the Maryland State Department of Health proposed as guidelines for healthcare providers in the region and our universal precautions established since the advent of the pandemic have successfully prevented new staff infections.”

Support staff, Kelsey Norton and Alexandria McIntosh, creating face masks at our July All Staff Meeting.