As the number of COVID-19 patients being treated in Utah hospitals surged in late 2020, Mike Dbeisi, MD, volunteered to take some redeployment shifts working as a hospitalist in Intermountain hospitals in the Salt Lake Valley. Dr. Dbeisi is the medical director for the Park City Hospital Emergency Department and he says the knowledge and experience he gained through his redeployment was invaluable.
Mike Dbeisi, MD
Working on the COVID-19 unit as a hospitalist was the most different thing I’ve done in medicine since my residency, which was 16 years ago,” says Dr. Dbeisi. “I honestly can say the last time I learned this much was in residency. I highly recommend redeployment and stepping out of your comfort zone. The learning curve for the hospitalist inpatient workflow was steep, but what I did learn will bring value to Park City's Emergency Medicine team and enable me to deliver better care to our COVID-19 patients earlier in their treatment.”
As an ED doctor, Dr. Dbeisi is involved in the care of patients during their first few hours at the hospital. But he wasn’t fully aware of the care COVID-19 patients received after they transferred to the nursing floor. He wanted to work on a COVID unit to better understand the continuum of care and what he could bring to the ED setting to improve care for COVID-19 patients during those first few hours.
“I feel like I'm missing something when I don't know what’s happening to my patients once they transfer to the floor,” says Dr. Dbeisi.
Here are a few pearls of wisdom he gathered during his experience:
- Listen to the team. Defer to people around you with more experience, regardless of their level or position. “Becky Johnson, RN, department coordinator, ran the COVID-19 unit,” Dr. Dbeisi says. “She just needed my name to place orders. I was in awe of how magically she coordinated every aspect of my patients’ care, from admission to follow-up after discharge.”
- We have very talented people throughout the system. “Caregivers across Intermountain are the cream of the crop,” Dr. Dbeisi says. “Recognize there’s an all-star team everywhere in Intermountain’s hospitals. Every caregiver I worked with was as caring and amazing as those I regularly work with at Park City Hospital.” Some people he wanted to recognize:
- “Dr. Andre Crouch, who recognized right away where I’d get the best COVID experience and assigned me shifts at Riverton Hospital.
- “Dr. Colin Grissom for his vast knowledge and straightforward answer to everything.
- “Dr. Mark Nary, aka ‘Midnight Rider,’ the night hospitalist who was crushed with nine ED admissions in his first few hours yet wouldn’t allow me to help at all.
- “The caregivers in the Riverton COVID-19 unit are amazing. I’m grateful they welcomed me, mentored me, and gave me one of the greatest learning experiences.”
- The Utah Emergency Physicians group, who’ve been working in redeployed roles across Intermountain for nearly a year and pioneered the process of using redeployment as an educational tool.
- Redeployment makes us better. Taking redeployment shifts, helping where needed, and working as a system makes a big difference—both for caregivers and for patients. “It makes us better,” he says.
- The full organization is backing you up. For example, a lot of PPE supplies are needed to care for COVID-19 patients, but Supply Chain has ensured caregivers have the supplies they need to stay safe. “On any given day, I’d go through dozens of gowns, gloves, N95s masks, and countless squirts of hand sanitizer,” Dr. Dbeisi says. “Yet the unit was always fully stocked with all the PPE I needed. Intermountain really takes care of us.”
Although COVID-19 patient volumes have decreased in recent weeks, redeployment opportunities are still available. If you’re interested in picking up some shifts like Dr. Dbeisi did, contact the System Redeployment Office by calling AskHR at 801-442-7547, emailing askhr@imail.org, or submitting a request online.