Hospital solution for COVID-19 isolation facility

Authors

  • Gidon Berger, MD
  • Netanel A. Horowitz, MD
  • Yael Shachor-Meyouhas, MD
  • Vardit Gepstein, MD
  • Khetam Hussein, MD
  • Avi Weismann, MD
  • Gila Hyams, RN
  • Yuval Geffen, PhD
  • Michal Mekel, MD
  • Michael Halberthal, MD https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3172-7619

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/ajdm.2021.0384

Keywords:

COVID-19, hospital, protective personal equipment (PPE), remote control systems, contamination prophylaxis strategies

Abstract

Objective: In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Israeli government strategy initially focused on containment. The Ministry of Health mandated isolation of COVID-19 patients in hospitals and instructed healthcare institutions to make necessary arrangements. As the second Israeli hospital to establish a COVID-19 department, this article describes our experience in its rapid establishment, while maintaining normal medical center activities.

Setting: Establishing the COVID-19 department involved planning, set-up, and implementations phases, each one based on knowledge available regarding the pandemic and established medical standards for isolation and protection of patients and staff. Wherever possible, new innovative technologies were utilized to provide maximum protection for both patients and staff, together with special online training that was developed for medical teams.

Results: A COVID-19 department was successfully established on the hospital campus, remote from other ongoing patient activities. A novel methodology of disease-adapted medicine was implemented successfully among the department's medical staff, who underwent training tailored to expected clinical scenarios. The COVID-19 department is receiving patients, with no contamination of medical personnel to date. A recent survey of COVID-19 patients revealed a very high patient satisfaction rate.

Conclusion: Based on the experience described herein and lessons learned, the hospital is preparing for a potential large-scale COVID-19 wave, aimed at full readiness through utilization of a fortified underground emergency hospital to treat up to 900 COVID-19 patients, and establishment of versatile in-hospital infrastructure for quick conversion from standard conditions to COVID-19 appropriate conditions.

Author Biographies

Gidon Berger, MD

Department of Internal Medicine “B,” Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel; Hospital Management, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel; The Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

Netanel A. Horowitz, MD

Hospital Management, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel; Department of Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel; The Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

Yael Shachor-Meyouhas, MD

Hospital Management, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel; The Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; Pediatric Infectious Disease Unit, Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel

Vardit Gepstein, MD

Hospital Management, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel; The Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel

Khetam Hussein, MD

The Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; Infection Control Unit, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel

Avi Weismann, MD

Hospital Management, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel; The Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

Gila Hyams, RN

Nursing Management, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel

Yuval Geffen, PhD

Hospital Management, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel; Division of Clinical Laboratories, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel

Michal Mekel, MD

Hospital Management, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel; The Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

Michael Halberthal, MD

Hospital Management, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel; The Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

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Published

01/01/2021

How to Cite

Berger, MD, G., N. A. Horowitz, MD, Y. Shachor-Meyouhas, MD, V. Gepstein, MD, K. Hussein, MD, A. Weismann, MD, G. Hyams, RN, Y. Geffen, PhD, M. Mekel, MD, and M. Halberthal, MD. “Hospital Solution for COVID-19 Isolation Facility”. American Journal of Disaster Medicine, vol. 16, no. 1, Jan. 2021, pp. 35-41, doi:10.5055/ajdm.2021.0384.

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2021): Winter

Section

Articles

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