Since the COVID-19 crisis arrived in our service area, there has been an overwhelming, almost unanimous desire among physicians, APPs, and other caregivers to serve the people in our neighborhoods and communities. Physicians and APPs who normally wouldn’t work in a hospital are reaching out, asking to be of service however possible. Caregivers who typically do work in our facilities are also searching for ways to make a difference and provide essential care. With this spirit and honorable call to duty, we’re making plans to leverage the entire expertise of Intermountain’s medical staff to appropriately meet the demands of patients with COVID-19 while continuing to provide the same level of quality care we’re known for.
With the goal of keeping healthcare professionals and patients safe by following principles of social distancing and PPE conservation, and national and local recommendations, we’ve made some temporary changes to postpone elective, nonurgent care. Some healthcare providers are busier than ever, while others are less so. We’re working hard to continue to support providers, caregivers, and the community as much as possible.
To help meet needs where they are most acute and to keep everyone working, we have already started to make changes. We’ve begun redeploying some hospital-based APPs to TeleHealth and ConnectCare to reach patients in their homes and other convenient locations. In other situations, we’re deploying experts and specialists to meet and care for patients where the patients are—home—and where they should stay.
Some examples of areas we’re currently working on to redeploy:
- primary care providers to help with urgent care, EDs, critical care, hospitalist care, TeleHealth, and Connect Care
- anesthesiologists to help with critical care needs
- outpatient pulmonologists to help treat patients with COVID-19
- increasing training of staff and physicians and APPs to support respiratory therapy needs in our hospitals
- talking with various surgical teams to understand redeployment interests and noting unique skills or training in a searchable database to leverage skillsets as needs arise
With your support we’ll continue to address needs of the ever-changing environment created by COVID-19. Thank you for your involvement and flexibility to support our communities. Know that if you’re redeploying into new areas, you will be partnered with providers experienced in those areas who will welcome you and support you as needed.
If you have questions about redeployment opportunities, speak with your medical director or operations leader. And if you’re interested in redeploying to an ED or Hospitalist setting, please email Susan DuBois and let her know your preferred hospital and schedule (days, evenings, nights, weekends). We will facilitate credentialing, privileging, and scheduling.