VCOM 2020 Annual Report

ALUMNI BATTLE AGAINST COVID-19

From the Epicenter in New York City

Heath Ward, DO Class of 2019, VCOM-Virginia, Internal Medicine, Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital, Manhattan, NYC

this guy’s admission. I had spoken to his children, and they were very concerned from the start. I was getting my protective equipment on, and in that 10 to 15 seconds I was just saying, ‘Please don’t let this be it for him.’ While the patient did need immediate attention, the event was not detrimental to him. That feeling will stick with me for the rest of my medical career.”

I am a first-year internal medicine resident at Mount Sinai Beth Israel

Hospital, located on the east side of Manhattan in New York City, starting my residency last July after graduating. Before we go into a room, we have to don the proper PPE, with an N95 mask, a droplet protecting mask over the N95, gown, goggles and a face shield. I remember one specific time I was on night float. The residents’ room is right next to the patients’ rooms, and I heard one of the nurses screaming for help. I was there for

Tracking and Documenting

LCdr. Matt Case, DO Class of 2014, VCOM-Virginia, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Duke Family Medicine and Community Health, Durham, NC

The system tracks the employees, facilitates testing, allows employees to track symptoms during self- quarantine and creates return-to-work documentation. It’s not just that you left work and now you’re back, it’s that you reported your symptoms, your symptoms were documented and you’re now enrolled in symptom monitoring. You’ve also been tested, you have the results of your test so you can tell your family and co-workers that, at this time, you are COVID-negative. That’s a lot of reassurance, so people can feel good about being at work and home.”

Duke’s director of Employee Occupational Health and Wellness (EOHW)

contacted me in mid-March. As COVID-19 spread, Duke required a comprehensive response system to keep front line employees safe and she needed my help. Along with the EOHW team, I built a system to provide testing, medical evaluation, monitoring and clearance to return to work for employees with potential virus exposure. This system allows us to essentially track everything COVID- related and process it very quickly.

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