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Volume 16 • Issue 12• $5.00 June 2020
THE REGION’S MONTHLY NEWSPAPER FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS & PHYSICIANS

COVID-19 Disaster Preparedness Emergency Department

Health Care District

of Palm Beach County:

Planning for the Pandemic

and Hurricane Season

BY DANIEL CASCIATO
As the coronavirus pandemic slowly spread
throughout South Florida this spring, the Health
Care District of Palm Beach County was ready for it
in several ways. First, the organization quickly mobi-
Dr. Joshua Lenchus
lized into a remote working environment for its cor- June Ellis
porate staff. Within four days, the IT team succeeded
Patients Avoiding in supporting all 200+ corporate staff with the capa- Jackson
bility of working off-site.
“One of the important efforts we also initiated at
Hospitals the same time was an employee hotline staffed by Emergency
human resources employees to help respond to con-
During COVID cerns,” explains Darcy J. Davis, CEO of the Health Department
Care District of Palm Beach County. “This was
Crisis Do So absolutely critical, as staff began dispersing and we Darcy J. Davis Prepared for
still had individuals traveling abroad, as well as the
at Extreme Risk need to address an overall uncertainty about next All Situations
steps, pay implications and quarantine procedures.”
Davis continues to film and broadcast weekly video updates to all team members to
keep them updated on key developments across the District. BY LOIS THOMSON
BY VANESSA ORR At its outpatient clinics for medical, dental, behavioral and women’s services, Davis
notes that they completely scaled back physical encounters and moved to a heavy Over the past few months, Jackson
In the chaos surrounding the COVID- telemedicine approach. Memorial Hospital's Emergency Depart -
19 pandemic, many people in Florida “With the reduced patient volumes, we were able to begin our testing efforts quickly,” ment has proved it is more than capable of
with medical issues decided that it she says. “We initially started testing outside of three of our 10 sites using our mobile handling an unexpected pandemic; and
would be better to stay at home than go now it is already preparing for the next
to the hospital. In fact, recent reports Continued on page 26 challenge: hurricane season.
from Broward Health and Fort As Associate Chief Nursing Officer of
Lauderdale Fire Rescue showed an Century Ambulance vs. Pandemic the Emergency Department and the
alarming trend of patients choosing self- Critical Care Units at Jackson Memorial,
care at home rather than dialing 911— Flexible, Resourceful, June Ellis, DNP, MS, RN, believes the hos-
with often tragic results. pital has hit a plateau and is definitely see-
“Emergency medical services (EMS) ing a decrease in the amount of patients
in Fort Lauderdale have seen a tremen- Innovative Disaster Response coming in with the COVID-19 virus. Part
dous uptick in ‘dead on arrivals’ (DOAs) of that success is the result of the depart-
when they get to homes,” said Joshua BY BARBARA R. FALLON ment's set-up.
Lenchus, D.O., chief medical officer, Ellis explained, "Our Emergency
Broward Health Medical Center. “At Think how health care partnerships unfolded in Depart ment has a unique design. The
Broward Health, we’ve seen a dramatic pre-pandemic times. Sometimes there was stop and original portion has been added onto, so
decrease in stroke and heart attack go progress; sometimes partners found themselves at one section is a little older and one is a lit-
patients coming into the hospital. cross purposes; sometimes competition got in the tle newer. The design enabled us to sepa-
“These people are electing to forego way of forward momentum; sometimes health disci- rate high-risk patients into one area, and
emergency medical care for fear of get- plines worked in silos unaware of impact on others all other patients into another." In that
ting the coronavirus if they come to the … even with the best intentions. way, patients are assessed and sent to the
hospital; they don’t think that they will Now during this one-of-a-kind experience, area appropriate for their treatment, help-
be protected,” he continued. “Sadly, this Century Ambulance has reenforced its value to the ing to eliminate cross-contamination.
supposition—which is incorrect—can Broward County area, with a business plan utilizing She also pointed out that in the initial
kill them.” the company’s community and professional knowl- stages of the virus, Jackson erected a tent
While people were trying to do the edge and disaster prep planning mindset. outside the ED that included a triage
right thing during the COVID crisis by “By identifying changing needs and allocating group. "Prior to any patient coming in we
staying out of public facilities and health care heroes (EMT’s and paramedics skilled in asked them very specific questions, such
avoiding crowded places, Dr. Lenchus basic and advanced care) and supplies we aim to Matt Johnson as have you had any shortness of breath or

Continued on page 15 Continued on page 27 Continued on page 26