Several weeks back, as cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) began to mount, Michael Eckroth, director, Emergency Preparedness, Parkview Health, started working on a central location for key members of leadership to come together and address the pandemic. The Incident Command Center officially opened on March 4, serving to proactively assess the impact of COVID-19.
Approximately 25 people work from the command center. Leaders come for collaborative sessions where multidisciplinary groups get together to make sure Parkview is prepared to navigate any barriers that could come up with treatment options, surge capacity, etc. These meetings take place both virtually and face-to-face, but always with social distancing in mind.
Operational staff and leaders are working 24 hours a day, asking the tough questions on testing and what we’re seeing with COVID-19 around the country. The group is actively working on the three “s”s of surge capacity: Do we have the staff, stuff and space to properly and safely care for patients for all of our hospitals and to best support those functions from a system level? We spend a lot of time planning, so we are ready and positioned to support our community.
