On March 2, 2020, Northwell Health saw its first COVID-19 patient. In a round table discussion, its CEO and two frontline heroes reflect on the year that followed on this special episode of the podcast. Listen to the audio podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/20-minute-health-talk/id1528414053#episodeGuid=northwell.podbean.com%2Fa1e669b0-3939-32a3-aa70-6888930504b3 Michael Dowling, president and CEO Mangala Narasimhan, DO, vice president of critical care services Sandra Lindsay, RN, intensive care unit (ICU) nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and the first person in the United States to receive the COVID vaccine. Chapters 00:35 - Reflecting on one-year of COVID-19 02:05 - Coping early on with little information 05:23 - Fighting the unknown 06:53 - Walking the COVID units 11:11 - Visitation suspended 12:50 - Treating COVID-19 early on 14:45 - Celebrating the wins 17:10 - Becoming the face of the vaccine 20:38 - The unsung heroes of COVID-19 25:27 - How COVID affected you personally 29:07 - What gives you hope? Reflecting on one-year anniversary Northwell received it’s first COVID-19 patient on March 2, 2020, which was followed by a slow uptick throughout March. By April 6, Northwell had more than 3,400 COVID-19 patients across the health system and had completely reconfigured it’s facilities and staffing. The expertise of the staff enabled them to manage the crisis as best as possible. Today, with numbers of cases coming down, the staff is looking forward with optimism, while keeping a watchful eye on the variant strains of the novel virus and future surges. Coping early on with little information Planning began well before the first COVID cases arrived in New York, but nothing could have prepared anyone for what would come. At the end of March all intensive care units were filled with COVID patients, and hospitals began converting non-ICU spaces for surge capacity. Despite these incredible challenges, people came to work every day, and they put their heads down and did what had to be done. Fighting the unknown While developing a strategy and a plan was important, in the early days of COVID-19, very little was known about the virus: its impact; how it affected people; and how to treat it. Northwell’s clinical advisory group, or medical leadership, were in constant meetings daily to come up with and share new information. Once something proved effective, it was implemented in other place. Walking the COVID units You cannot expect people to be on the frontlines doing heroic work if you’re not willing to go there yourself and see what’s going on, and meet with the people, talk with the people, get an understanding on the ground. Having gone to every hospital and walked the halls of many ICUs, most converted into COVID units, Mr. Dowling reflects on those experiences and what it meant to him and to the staff. Treating COVID-19 early on One of the real pressures doctors and nurses faced early on was trying to find ways to treat COVID-19 when there were no known treatments, nor much known about the virus. There were clinical trials and experts connecting around the country and around the world trying to find the right answers. But, with so many patients coming in so quickly early on, this was an incredibly difficult task and caused a lot of distress for health care workers. Sandra Lindsay talks about her staff’s experiences working without effective treatments early on. Becoming the face of hope Ms. Lindsay became the first person in the United States to receive a COVID vaccine on Dec. 14, 2020. She continues to advocate for vaccination and hopes her example will instill public confidence, particularly among the African-American community. While vaccine hesitancy remains an obstacle for some, Mr. Dowling said he believes getting the vaccine is a moral duty for all of us, not only to protect yourself, but your family, neighbors and the larger community. Clinical trials have shown that the vaccines currently under emergency use authorization from the FDA are safe and effective. The unsung heroes of COVID-19 Mr. Dowling shares his experience meeting an ICU nurse who’s father had just died from COVID-19. Ms. Lindsay shares stories of her critical care team who went above and beyond. Dr. Narasimhan shares her appreciation for the procurement teams and environmental staff. With limited number of ventilators, the procurement team would drive ventilators to hospitals in hotspots so that every single patient had what they needed. Environmental staff went into COVID rooms and worked double shifts and made sure that the rooms were what they needed to be so clinical staff could take care of patients every day. LISTEN / SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST Podbean: http://bit.ly/3mDpiCt Pandora: http://bit.ly/3p7NLBi Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/2KIkqi3 Spotify: http://spoti.fi/3h5KWy9