2020/2021 Community Impact Report

COVID: From Crisis to Collaboration

For Jim Kilmer, the pandemic began in earnest several months before it did for much of the Nation. As Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer for AtlantiCare - Atlantic City Campus, his Infection Prevention Team was watching China, looking at disease transmission, and putting a plan in place for AtlantiCare to prepare for the novel coronavirus rapidly spreading across the globe. Ordinarily, he says, emergency planning involves weather related and mass casualty events. “We pulled out the influenza like illness plan, as we do every year for review, and in late 2019, began adapting it for what we knew about COVID-19.” Which, of course, was very little. “Even before we had cases in the U.S., we were glued to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), scouring scientific papers, looking for any details that could help us prepare,” says Gemma Downham, Corporate Director

for staff and incoming patients. “As the experts, and those closest to the data, it was our job to provide scientific and medical information to help keep our staff and community safe,” says Mike Heck, Director of Acute Care Infection Prevention. He worked with AtlantiCare Information Technology Department to create an app to monitor symptoms and illness, and to modify existing technology to help triage patients remotely. Visitation was halted. Testing in the early days, Kilmer says, was slow – as it was across the nation. “We realized quickly how important it was going to be bring testing capabilities in-house.” He called on AtlantiCare’s Labs. “We saw cases rapidly increasing in New York City, and we knew it was only a matter of time until it reached us,” says Heather Nigro, Corporate Director of Clinical Services, who oversees AtlantiCare’s labs. “Within two weeks of the state shutting down non-essential businesses, we were able to bring testing in-house. It was a pivotal win.” By mid-April 2020, AtlantiCare providers could administer COVID tests and access results in under four hours for patients at higher risk of COVID. Facing shortages along with the rest of the country, Nigro and her team had

of Patient Safety, Infection Prevention, and Clinical Risk Management. “It was our job to stay on top of the science.” Based on early worldwide data, Kilmer’s team began the task of preparing for an immense surge in respiratory illness. Staff worked around the clock to establish protocols, secure PPE and portable HEPA air filtration units. They began preparing isolation rooms and negative pressure rooms that would help contain the virus. AtlantiCare’s first COVID-positive patient presented on March 8, 2020 at its Mainland Campus’s Emergency Room. Within ten days, much of the U.S. had come to a screeching halt. “We drove to work on empty roads, and walked down empty halls,” Downham recalls. “Everyone entering our facilities had the potential to be a vector for disease.” Based on protocols from the CDC and the New Jersey Department of Health, AtlantiCare’s Infection Prevention team began symptom-screening

to be strategic about where and how to set up testing sites to maximize impact.

Frances Loftus, D.O., FCCP Associate Chairman, Department of Critical Care, ICUMainland Campus

Edward Hamaty, Jr., D.O. Chairman, Department of Critical Care, ICU City Campus

Manish Trivedi, M.D. Director, Division of Infectious Disease

10 ANNUAL REPORT ON GIVING