The Storm Is the Norm: COVID-19 Lessons Learned.

• Author: White, Rindi
• Position: HEALTHCARE SPECIAL SECTION

2021 has not been a postpandemic year. Vaccine rollouts in the beginning of the year spelled hope for many and led to a broader reopening of businesses. Summer saw a return to travel and other normal activities. But overall, an uncertain economy, goods shortages, and a third-quarter resurgence in COVID-19 cases has made it clear that the pandemic is still very much with us, along with many of its lingering side effects.

What impression has COVID-19 left on 2021? Where are we in the pandemic, and what has Alaska learned so far?

The lessons are basic, and the message is simple: Be prepared, be flexible, and mind your mental health.

Better Communication, Better Care

Providence Alaska Medical Center has been on the leading edge of the COVID-19 response in Alaska. It hasn't been easy, and it has required Providence to make some changes in how information is disseminated within their healthcare facilities. Some of those changes will carry over, long-term.

"From an infection prevention lead position, I think the most effective strategy we employed early on in the pandemic was coming together as a leadership group and mobilizing around the most pressing needs of the day," says Providence's Manager of Infection Prevention Rebecca Hamel. "I don't typically sit at the executive level; it really allowed me to have access to leadership."

The fluid nature of both the pandemic and the recommended response to it meant sometimes changes happened fast, Hamel explains. Being able to ask Providence leaders to weigh in on best-practices decisions allowed the healthcare provider to incorporate those changes and continually adapt.

With personal protective equipment, for example, Hamel says her team had to navigate supply chain constraints and find alternative sources.

"There were a couple of times the decision we made at the beginning of the day was a different decision than at the end of the day," she says.

"You have to work fast to win," says Dr. Michael Bernstein, Providence's regional chief medical officer. "We made a decision, we did it, and then we would adapt. It was a little different than the usual pattern; in quieter times, we had longer meetings and maybe six months of planning, but in this we had to work very quickly."

Providence set up its first drivethrough COVID-19 testing site in just days. Advice about whether patients should be intubated early in their treatment also changed. Best practices, such as putting patients in a prone position, face...