3 BRONX WEEKLY May 10, 2020 www.BXTimes.com
Childrens Hospital at Montefi ore provides
care to adult COVID-19 patients
BY JASON COHEN
Over the course of
two weeks in March 2020,
COVID-19 cases at Montefi
ore grew from two to almost
700.
As the health care system
looked to increase capacity,
an inpatient pediatric
unit at the Children’s Hospital
at Montefi ore (CHAM)
quickly became a 40-bed
unit that would be home to
adult patients. A new, fi rstof
its-kind report published
in the Journal of Pediatrics
describes the rapid transformation
that took place.
The report also shared
valuable lessons learned
and best practices for healthcare
providers throughout
the country, who may face
a similar situation in the
weeks ahead.
“In collaboration with
our adult care providers, we
quickly trained CHAM clinicians
on how to provide
an effective, informed and
thoughtful approach to care
for our new adult patients,”
said lead author Kaitlyn
Philips, DO, assistant medical
director of Pediatric
Quality, CHAM and assistant
professor of pediatrics
at Albert Einstein College
of Medicine. “In a matter of
weeks, our physicians and
nurses became accustomed
to new policies and protocols,
caring for adults with
a highly contagious disease,
and many with other underlying
conditions.”
Instead of assigning
pediatricians to be part of
teams led by adult medicine
physicians, Montefi
ore developed a strategy
of training pediatricianled
teams and having them
work within their own familiar
setting. Established
CHAM teams of pediatric
physicians and nurses consulted
with adult-medicine
physicians to provide lifesaving
care to more than
100 patients within 10 days
of accepting adults.
The new report outlines
the steps taken to prepare
and train pediatric healthcare
providers on how to
treat a new, older population,
including enhanced
communication, adapted
rounding practices and a
new approach with adult
hospital medicine providers.
“This effort is a true example
of interdisciplinary
care and all-hands-on-deck
preparation,” said Michael
Cabana, physician-in-chief
at CHAM and The Michael
I. Cohen, University Chair
in the Department of Pediatrics
at Albert Einstein
College of Medicine. “Our
teams mobilized early,
quickly and effectively to
provide high-quality care
to the parents and grandparents
of their usual patients.
Being part of a
large, integrated healthcare
system enabled us to
access the expertise and
resources necessary to
provide this care.”
In addition to providing
recommended therapies
for adults, the team recognized
that palliative care
is crucial. Dr. Cabana and
Dr. Sarah Norris, director
of Pediatric Palliative Care
and the Quality in Life
Team (QUILT) at CHAM,
trained 27 pediatricians,
nurse practitioners and
psychologists in one week.
They were then deployed
throughout the
adult COVID-19 unit at
CHAM to help patients and
their families stay connected,
informed and educated
during hospitalization.
The expanded QUILT
team became a lifeline for
patients and their families,
available seven days per
week to help them as they
faced complex medical decisions
and uncertainty.
The last adult patient
has been discharged from
CHAM and the providers
will now care for pediatric
patients again. Approximately
150 adults received
COVID-19 treatment at
CHAM.
The unit in CHAM when it was prepared for adults. Photo courtesy Montefi ore
Car dealers association donates 50,000 masks to BP Diaz
BY ALEX MITCHELL
A 110-year-old trade association
is making sure that
vulnerable populations in the
Bronx have the proper equipment
to protect themselves
against COVID-19.
Bronx Borough President
Ruben Diaz, Jr. was given a
donation of 50,000 face masks
from the Greater New York Automobile
Dealers Association
(GNYADA) earlier today at a
garage nearby Bronx Borough
Hall on E. 161st Street.
Those three-ply paper
masks are to be distributed
throughout the Bronx to vulnerable
populations including
seniors, essential workers and
other vulnerable populations,
according to Diaz’s offi ce.
These masks are part of a
larger, half million donation
that GNYADA is making to 12
downstate counties, including
the boroughs of New York City.
“The Greater New York Automobile
Association has ensured
that thousands of Bronxites
will be safer from the
spread of COVID-19 infection
with their generous donation,”
Diaz said while thanking the
association for its support of the
borough.”We are determined to
persevere through this unprecedented
public health crisis
collectively as a united caring
community,” Diaz added.
The president of the GNYADA,
Mark Schienberg explained
how auto dealers are
the “brick and mortar” backbones
of the city and its surrounding
suburbs. Auto dealers
make up the fi fth largest
retail employer throughout
the downstate region, help to
support 71,280 jobs, contribute
$2.5 billion in local and state
taxes and support a total payroll
of $4.5 billion, according
to an economic impact survey
conducted in 2019.
“When New Yorkers are
in need, time and again, franchise
new car dealers and
their employees are always
there for the communities
where they live and work,”
Schienberg added. GNYADA donated 50,000 face masks to Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. Courtesy of the Bronx Borough President’s Offi ce
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