Jacqueline Moran, the director of Northwell’s Centralized Transfer Center, said the hospital can dial up its approach to move patients in response to emergencies, for example in the case a facility must be evacuated because of a fire or a flood.
“Thanks to COVID, the silver lining is now we know how to move this seamlessly from a high incident to a low incident on a daily basis,” Moran said.
Last March, two Northwell hospitals in the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, Long Island Jewish Valley Stream and Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, were overwhelmed with patients.
Northwell Health operates its own ambulances and emergency call center, so they moved dozens of patients each day into other parts of the health network that were not overloaded with coronavirus patients.
Silver lining : Hospitals keep practices born in COVID rush
TED SHAFFREY, Associated Press
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SYOSSET, N.Y. (AP) As coronavirus surged in New York last year, officials at the state s largest hospital system realized their old way of transferring patients to relieve stress on swamped emergency rooms just wasn t going to cut it.
Instead of time-consuming phone calls and emails, Northwell Health created a quicker, more efficient “crowd-sourcing” method using an online spreadsheet to match patients in need of a transfer with hospitals having available beds.
Now, Northwell Health, which operates 23 hospitals and 700 outpatient clinics in the New York City region, has made that system born in the midst of a crisis a permanent part of its operations.
Heart Damage Seen in 50% of People Hospitalized With COVID-19
Written by George Citroner on February 19, 2021 Fact checked by Dana K. Cassell
People may still need to meet with a cardiologist months after treatment for severe COVID-19 Kemal Yildirim/Getty Images
A new study finds that about 50 percent of people hospitalized with severe COVID-19 have evidence of heart damage.
Researchers investigated patients with COVID-19 who were discharged from care until June 2020 from six U.K.-based hospitals. The study examined 148 patients.
Research
published last July found people who experienced a mild form of COVID-19 might develop heart issues.
All data and statistics are based on publicly available data at the time of publication. Some information may be out of date. Visit our coronavirus hub and follow our live updates page for the most recent information on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Urinary Incontinence in Women Common, but Treatable
By Robin Foster
HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Feb. 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) Nearly 1 in 2 women over the age of 50 deal with the indignities of urinary incontinence, but experts say no one has to suffer in silence.
Frequently considered an inevitable problem of aging, most women never even try to get treatment for the urinary leakage that they experience, said Dr. Christopher Hartman, chief of urology at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills in New York City.
Why? Many women often cite embarrassment as the reason for their delay in seeking care, he explained.
Before they decide to get help, women need to determine what kind of incontinence they have. Stress urinary incontinence is most frequently caused by laughing, coughing, sneezing or exercising. Conversely, urge incontinence occurs when a person experiences a strong desire to urinate and cannot stop this sensation, Hartman explained. This is typically the result of a problem
U.S. Life Expectancy Drops 1 Full Year Due to COVID-19
By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Feb. 18, 2021 (HealthDay News) In a sign that the coronaviruspandemic is cutting short the lives of Americans, a new government report finds that average life expectancy in the United States took a drastic plunge during the first half of 2020, particularly among Black and Hispanic people.
Overall U.S. life expectancy dropped to 77.8 years, down one full year from the 78.8 years estimated in 2019.
Declines were even greater for certain demographics. For example, average life expectancy decreased 2.7 years for Black people and 1.9 for Hispanic people between 2019 and the first half of 2020, according to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), which is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Life expectancy for white people decreased by an average 0.8 years.