f eature s “but that they recognized the responsibility that comes with being a health care professional and were ready to meet the challenge presented by COVID-19, even if the circumstances were not ideal.” In addition to being a previously unknown disease with implications for treatment, prevention, protection and more, nationwide equipment shortages and rampant misinformation has made responding to the virus that much more difficult. “With very little known about the virus we were making sure we were prepared for the worst and at the same time hoping for the best,” said Johnson. That simply-stated, two-pronged approach would guide BGH through several intense months of modifying facilities and procedures, mobilizing support and educating themselves and the community—efforts that continue to this day. Although they had been meeting about the coronavirus for a little while, said hospital CEO Sheryl Rickard, the hospital formalized a response team on February 26. On the same day the Center for Disease Control sounded the alarm, BGH activated their Incident Command team, representing such areas as hospital administration, clinical operations, nursing, emergency medicine, public information, facilities and infection prevention. “The Incident Command team is responsible for monitoring the situation, educating staff, monitoring the inventory of personal protective equipment (PPE) and working closely with community partners, including Panhandle Health District,” said Rickard, who said the hospital has a robust emergency preparedness program. “There was already a structure in place and we all knew our roles,” she added, noting that put BGH ahead of other facilities. “This has given us a chance to use the skills and knowledge that we have been practicing.”
Since then, they have spent weeks reviewing policies; evaluating services and staffing; generating restrictions, protections and screening; and revamping communication amongst staff and with the community, said Rickard. One of the first changes at BGH was readily visible from the outside—an outdoor testing site—while inside, adaptations involved everything from facilities to protocol to staffing. The emergency care unit was the first to get anterooms where staff could safely go through the lengthy process of putting on and taking off the masks, gowns and other PPE necessary to protect themselves and prevent incidental spread to others. BGH added isolation rooms in several units, including emergency, the 6-bed intensive care unit and obstetrics. They also built a COVID-19 isolation “pod” in their 18-bed medical-surgical unit that could house six patients and developed a “surge” plan should the need arise. Although much of the press has focused on intensive care, said Cordle, 80 percent of virus patients hospitalized nationwide were being treated in med-surg units, according to the American Nurses Association. Access to accurate data in a rapidly evolving environment has been essential to their decision-making process, said many BGH staff members interviewed for this article. “Guiding a hospital and a community through this is kind of like using a mud puddle for a crystal ball, because so much is still unknown about COVID-19,” said Cordle. “We are constantly making new decisions, discussing new ideas and addressing or readdressing problems as current information changes,” he said. “As health care leaders and professionals we have a strong responsibility to ensure our decisions are based on the best science and math available, and not on emotion.”
LEFT: THE COMMUNITY PROVIDED THOUSANDS OF CLOTH MASKS FOR USE IN THE HOSPITAL. BELOW: WORKERS IN THE HOSPITAL’S SEROLOGY LAB. BGH PHOTOS
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