LinkedIn: Kaleida Health: Preparedness And Risk Management At All Levels

Released: 5/29/2020

This article is one in a series of how hospitals accredited by DNV GL Healthcare are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Patrick Horine

New York is two states and hundreds of miles away from my office in the Cincinnati suburbs, but as the hardest-hit part of the country by the COVID-19 pandemic, it occupies huge spaces in both my heart and mind.

Buffalo is the second-largest city in New York and the one in the state closest to Cincinnati. And while it has not been ravaged by the Coronavirus to the extent New York City has, the numbers are still grim.

As of April 28 in Erie County, there have been 245 confirmed deaths related to the Coronavirus, according to County Executive Mark Poloncarz. That includes 12 deaths alone on April 28. The number of new cases reported that day climbed by 115, to more than 3,200.

Such numbers have put a significant strain on Kaleida Health, the largest hospital system in the greater Buffalo area. It operates five hospitals, including Buffalo General Medical Center, the largest in the region. Kaleida Health was one of the first hospital systems to be accredited by DNV GL Healthcare to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. It has also been certified as a participant in the ISO 9001 quality program since 2014, which is a requirement to receive our accreditation services.

Being ISO compliant means not only focusing on continuous quality improvement, but being engaged in proactive risk management and planning. And after speaking with Timothy Kornacki, Kaleida Health’s director of corporate emergency management, it is obvious that Kaleida has engaged in the COVID-19 crisis at the highest level of preparedness.

Among Kaleida’s undertakings in response to the outbreak:

• Set up command centers at all hospitals to deal with internal issues, and a central command center to deal with issues at the system level. Staffed by emergency management personnel, they handle issues such as the testing of frontline healthcare workers and the movement of supplies and materials.
• Set up a hotline for their employees to call with questions about COVID-19. It’s been operating since the second week in March and is operating 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Reconfigured space within Buffalo General Medical Center and other facilities to better manage patient flow, including the potential expansion of intensive care unit beds.
• Triage tents have been set up at Buffalo General Medical Center and Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital to treat overflow patients if needed.
• Reconfigured its “Medically Speaking” series of videos to specifically inform the public about how Kaleida is responding to the Coronavirus.
• Set up several COVID-19 sample collection sites, offered to the public, include a location in the inner city.
• Offered antibody testing to its entire workforce.
• Installed Plexiglas barriers at its cafeteria and other areas where food is available or served, as well as its admission and registration areas.
• Hired more than 150 new respiratory therapists, respiratory equipment aides, physician assistants, and clinical lab assistants, while re-configuring the jobs of 900 other employees, including doctors and nurses, to better respond to patient needs.

Believe me when I say I am leaving some things out. As the Coronavirus outbreak very slowly recedes, Kaleida Health will have more challenges to come. Its hospitals normally operate at around 90% of capacity; Tim Kornacki, tells me that has dropped to around 50%. However, given Kaleida has prepared so meticulously to respond to an unexpected event so quickly, I am certain it will continue to respond as swiftly to the events that lie ahead.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/kaleida-health-preparedness-risk-management-all-levels-patrick-horine