Page 14 - WCMS4Q21

All Hands on Deck: Successful
Partnerships with Health Systems
aA n d P u b l i c H e a l t h
nurag Malani, Laraine Washer, and Juan Marquez, representing St. Joseph Mercy/Trinity Health, Michigan Medicine, and the Washtenaw County Department of Public Health, all of whom were regular participants in the WCMS COVID-19 Work Group, described their collaborative efforts in fighting the pandemic in a talk given
to Michigan Infectious Disease Society In November 2020. Their slides tell in graphic form about the character and scope of the work of the COVIID Work Group in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Comment from Anurag Malani, MD, Medical Director, Hospital Epidemiology and Special Pathogens and Antimicrobial Stewardship, St. Joseph Mercy Health, Ann Arbor.
COVID-19 continues to be an unprecedented global pandemic. Michigan has been particularly devastated given three previous surges and the ongoing toll of the current Delta surge. Response and management has required an “All Hands on Deck” approach. Fortunately, Washtenaw County has a robust history of bringing hospital, community, university, and public health partners together for coordinated and transparent response as exemplified during the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 and Ebola preparedness in 2014.
One of the biggest challenges of COVID-19 has been timely and transparent communication, especially in an era of unparalleled misinformation and disinformation. For over a year, the Washtenaw County COVID-19 meetings were instrumental for knowledge sharing with up to date hospital policies and procedures including numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations, treatment guidelines, vaccine administration, key scientific review, public health response and challenges, university updates, and important data modeling. The multidisciplinary forum was a critical framework to provide consistent messaging and help break down any barriers.
All Hands On Deck:
Successful Partnerships with Health Systems and Public Health
November 11, 2020
Anurag Malani, MD, FIDSA, FSHEA Laraine Washer, MD, FIDSA, FACP Juan Marquez MD, MPH
Changing Epidemiology and Demographics Across MI
COVID-19: MI Experience
• Early April - universal HCW masking
• Late April - universal testing all admissions
• Significant PPE shortages along the way
• COVID/PUIs - N-95 + eye protection for critically ill/AGPs and surgical masks for others
• Late July - universal eye protection for patient- facing colleagues
• August - N-95s + eye protection for all COVID/PUIs
Leadership and Organizational Structure
• Local Incident Command, State IC, regular system IP and Clinical Care meetings
• Critical for smaller community hospitals
• Some hospitals don’t have any ID expertise
• State and System Dashboards
• PPE, test kits/supplies, treatment, ventilators...
• Frequent communications and townhalls
14 Washtenaw County Medical Society BULLETIN WINTER 2021