14 COVID-19 strategies from Northwell Health

This article first appeared on Becker's Hospital Review | Read it now

The safety of workers has been a high priority for hospitals and health systems across the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, and New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health is no exception.

New York's largest healthcare provider, for example, implemented several strategies specifically targeting the safety of patient transport staff and environmental services workers, whose duties include cleaning patient rooms and changing bed linens.

Here are Northwell Health's strategies for minimizing exposure to patient transport staff, provided to Becker's by Jennifer Marchese, associate director of patient logistics at the health system's Staten Island (N.Y.) University Hospital.

Centralize the transport department

Train patient transporters to work in teams of two

Assign three patient transporters to manage the movement of dead COVID-19 patients to the morgue

Huddle at the beginning of shifts

Train patient transport staff to ensure they were well-practiced in the proper procedures for donning and docking personal protective equipment

Tap patient transporters who were the first to work on the COVID-19 floors to train colleagues

Monitor transport trips via the hospital's technology platform
Establish a distinct, one-way discharge process for COVID-19 patients with two transporters — one to help the patient and handle the wheelchair and another to touch doors and elevators