News from our Sections and Fellows Supply Chain Story Steven D. Chan Past President of the ACD
I’m in the San Francisco Bay Area—one of the COVID hot spots in the country. I happen to be the longest serving dentist on the medical staff at our regional Washington Hospital. I also happen to serve on the hospital district’s governing body—a holding company that oversees about 10 off-campus subsidiary companies. I’ve had a ringside seat as COVID has unfolded in our community. In January, as COVID was starting to gain momentum, our hospital was running scared. So much was unknown, and we were anticipating a surge of COVID patients way beyond our resources, especially with the dire shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE). By February, their institutional suppliers were starting to experience shortages from their vendors. Our hospital, like most in the Bay Area, was sending up red flags.
Silicon Valley Chinese American Computer Association member companies donated truckloads of personal protective equipment.
the effective use recommendations of PPE at the time were far less stringent than what we now know to be true. I tried another approach. The SF Bay area and Silicon Valley are home to the most high-tech firms—many owned by Asian expatriates. They also happen to live in our communities. These high-tech firms also use PPE for their production lines! Dental offices have patients from all walks of life. It’s about relationships.
By the last week of February, I reached out to our county dental society to rally a drive to donate any surplus they might have. There are over 150 dental office members in the hospital service area. Our pitch was that if every office could donate a few boxes of PPE—given what we heard at the time—the PPE units in our storage closets might even save the lives of our patients who might contract the disease. What’s more important?
Realize that by the second and third week of March the exponential assault of COVID created anxiety among the population of this country. The Bay Area and Silicon Valley were among the fastest growing hotspots in the country. That’s when member companies of the Silicon Valley Chinese American Computer Association donated truckloads of PPE. Their distribution included five area hospitals in Alameda County (San Francisco Bay Area) and San Jose. These specific hospitals were the beneficiaries because of relationships.
By the first week of March the supply chain for PPE for dental offices were starting to get back ordered and in shorter supply. COVID cases were escalating all over the country. The Bay Area was dealing with quarantining a cruise ship rife with passengers infected with COVID.
The moral of the story—dental offices are part of a community. As community members, we don’t exist in isolation. We develop relationships among our patients and the businesses in that same community.
By the beginning of the second week in March, the Governor of California issued an emergency executive order. The counties that surround the San Francisco Bay all issued heightened restrictions. Our area was the first in the country to institute shutdowns, before the federal government decided to move. The early dental office donors gave what they could. But frankly, COVID moved so fast offices were immediately shut down. Even the owners were reluctant to expose themselves—to open their closed offices and transport PPE to the suspected hotbeds—the hospitals. Realize also,
As members of the College we were invited to Fellowship as leaders of the profession. We each had a demonstrated record of leadership just to be nominated. We didn’t just watch. We did something about it. The tenets of leadership begin in our own backyards. As leaders, we are connectors in our communities and our profession. As leaders in our profession we do something about a challenge facing us. We boldly engage. Be Safe. Stay Healthy.
ACD News | Winter 2020 | 17
