Illinois Medicine

N JANUARY 20, 2020, THE FAST- GATHERING COVID-19 STORM MADE U.S. LANDFALL, with its first confirmed patient just north of Seattle. In February, the novel coronavirus was picking up speed, causing alarm and confusion. On March 11, the World Health Organization declared a full-blown pandemic, and the following week, schools, businesses and restaurants began closing their doors. For many people, panic set in. By the end of the month, airports were empty and toilet paper was flying off the shelves. During those two months, leadership of the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System reached for its emergency-response playbook. On February 29—not knowing exactly what was to come—the statewide University of Illinois System established its COVID-19 Planning & Response Team, led by UIC Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs Robert Barish, MD, MBA. The next day, the UI Health Incident Management Team, or incident command, began implementing a detailed internal treatment and safety plan for patients and staff. "We had never dealt with a public health emergency on this scale," says Heather M. Prendergast, MD, MS, MPH, professor and associate head of the department of emergency medicine, who co-represented the College of Medicine on the team. "From the outset, our main goal was to minimize loss of life and protect patients and staff from the disease." By March 5, COVID-19 had arrived in Illinois, infecting five people. As the team members watched what was happening in New York, they were preparing for the worst-case scenario: the possibility of the entire hospital being overtaken by COVID-19 patients. "To mitigate a public health disaster, we stopped all nonemergency clinical activity on March 11," says Charles E. Ray, MD, PhD, professor and head of radiology, and the College's other representative on the team. The same day, Governor J.B. Pritzker declared the coronavirus pandemic a health emergency in Illinois and instituted a stay-at-home order. On March 12, the hospital admitted its first coronavirus patient. UI Health declared an external disaster four days later and activated full coordination through its incident command team. While the medical center was joining the rest of the country's competitive quest for PPE last spring, the team began standing up three COVID-19 testing sites (two at Mile Square Health Center sites and one at Pilsen Family Health Center), expanding UI Health Battles on the Front Lines of COVID-19 B Y C A R L A B E E C H E R Coordination, testing sites, telehealth and a focus on disparities spark clinical response O P H O T O : D I A N E S M U T N Y P H O T O : D I A N E S M U T N Y Illinois Medicine | 19

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