White Plains Hospital looks to a brighter future BY SUSAN FOX
A
s we reflect on living through a global pandemic, each through his own lens, it is striking how quickly our lives were changed. Whether you are a health-care worker, a parent, a student or a business owner, what seemed to be “ordinary” was suddenly gone. Instead, days were marked by anxiety and isolation but also unexpected and touching displays of courage and kindness. Through my lens at the helm of White Plains Hospital, last year taught us much. It demonstrated how important it is to be able to adapt, to trust science and one an-
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other, and it created urgency to devise new innovative solutions in rapid time. Seemingly overnight, the hospital transformed as we took on the enormous role of keeping our community healthy and patients and staff safe. To meet state requirements and handle the surge of Covid-19 patients, we quickly increased our capacity from 250 beds to 375 and expanded our ICU beds from 16 to 82. In-person doctor visits were suddenly replaced by video consultations and remote patient monitoring tools were deployed to deliver the highest levels of patient care. As health-care institutions, we evolved because we had to, and while many of these solutions
were already in their infancy, the pandemic accelerated technologies that may forever change how we care for patients. During the peak of the pandemic, nearly 80% of the patients in the hospital were diagnosed with Covid-19. That number is now less than 1%. This is incredible from where we were a year ago and is proof that vaccinations are working. I cannot stress enough how important it is that everyone who is eligible get vaccinated. We have seen how effective these vaccines can be in reducing Covid-19 hospitalizations, which in turn has supported restrictions finally loosening. However, we cannot think Covid-19 is gone forever.
