NYC Health + Hospitals Hosts Fireside Chat with White House About Pandemic Preparedness and Covid-19 Textbook
The event featured the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response alongside health system leadership The Covid-19 Response in New York City: Crisis Management in the Epicenter of the Epicenter is the definitive text on the pandemic; the 400-page book was fully written and edited by leadership across NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest municipal health system in the nation
Oct 24, 2024
New York, NY — NYC Health + Hospitals hosted a fireside chat about pandemic preparedness and critical lessons learned from recent infectious disease outbreaks, including mpox and Covid-19 at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, the epicenter of the epicenter during the first wave of the pandemic. The discussion drew on the health system’s experiences and insights documented in the book The Covid-19 Response in New York City: Crisis Management in the Epicenter of the Epicenter. The event featured Dr. Nikki Romanik, Deputy Director and Chief of Staff of the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response within the Executive Office of the President, alongside the health system’s own Chief Biopreparedness Officer Dr. Syra Madad and Elmhurst Hospital Chief Medical Officer Dr. Laura Iavicoli, who were both leaders during the system’s Covid response as well as editors of the Covid textbook. A full recording of the conversation is available here.
NYC Health + Hospitals has been on the frontlines of numerous outbreaks, including its critical involvement in the mpox response. The fireside chat provided a forum to share best practices on outbreak preparedness and explore strategies to strengthen future response efforts. During the event, Dr. Romanik provided insights into how the federal office drives interagency coordination and supports federal capabilities to respond to domestic and global health threats. The discussion also drew from the health system’s comprehensive approach outlined in the recently published book, The Covid-19 Response in New York City: Crisis Management in the Epicenter of the Epicenter, offering insights on managing high-impact outbreaks and reinforcing preparedness plans for future public health emergencies.
Published earlier this year, the 400-page bookThe Covid-19 Response in New York City: Crisis Management in the Epicenter of the Epicenter covers the pandemic from the frontlines of the response, in the nation’s largest city and the first major city hit by Covid-19. The book covers how to respond to an unprecedented influx of inpatients, stand up a 24/7 contact tracing operation, distribute hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses, and manage provider burnout during a historic crisis. The book was written by nearly 100 staff across the health system who participated in the response. Each chapter includes lessons learned, so healthcare leaders and public health professionals can learn best practices for the next large-scale emergency response, and a vignette from a frontline staffer. The book is available to purchase from Elsevier and Amazon. 100% of the proceeds will go to the NYC Health + Hospitals Helping Healers Heal program to support frontline staff through emotional and psychological trauma, second victimization, vicarious trauma, and burnout.
“Preparedness is key to protecting communities from the devastating effects of infectious disease outbreaks,” said NYC Health + Hospitals Chief Biopreparedness Officer Dr. Syra Madad. “NYC Health + Hospitals has demonstrated that proactive planning, combined with collaboration across public health and governmental bodies, is essential. Our work during mpox, as well as ongoing efforts to stay ahead of emerging threats like Marburg virus, highlight the need for continuous investment in health security and pandemic preparedness.”
“Throughout the pandemic and in every crisis since, we’ve seen that preparedness is not just a strategy—it’s a commitment to resilience,” said NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst Chief Medical Officer Laura Iavicoli, MD, MBA, FACEP, CHEP. “By continuously refining our emergency protocols, we are building a healthcare system that can not only withstand but thrive under the pressure of future global health threats.”
The book includes the following insights into the health system’s Covid-19 response:
- How to respond to an unprecedented surge of inpatients, including surge staffing and level loading.
- How to stand up to a mass vaccination response, including vaccine pods, mobile vaccine units, and using monoclonal antibody treatments and oral antibodies.
- How to manage healthcare provider burnout and develop a compassionate, supportive culture during a historic crisis.
- How the health system’s Correctional Health Services became the first in the nation to conduct COVID-19 testing in jails and the first correctional facility in New York State to offer COVID-19 vaccines to people in custody.
- How to stand up a 24/7 contact tracing operation with approximately 5,000 workers.
- How the public health system, as a governmental entity, served not only its own patients but all New York City residents who were sick with Covid-19, including setting up Covid-19 testing sites in low-income and minority neighborhoods, using its purchasing power to support other hospitals with acquiring equipment and temporary staffing, and supporting patients from its own and other hospitals with hotel rooms for isolating after discharge.
- How the health system created a philanthropy department in response to an outpouring of donations from around the world.
Between March 1, 2020 when New York City had its first confirmed case of Covid-19 and May 11, 2023 when the federal government declared an end to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, NYC Health + Hospitals saw over 25,000 Covid-19 patients. The health system brought on 3,000 additional ICU beds and hired 5,000 additional temporary nurses to respond to the surge of Covid-19 patients. Health system staff responded to 90,000 calls to the city’s Covid-19 Hotline for clinicians to answer questions on the virus, assess symptoms, and connect patients to care.
In addition, over the course of the COVID-19 public health emergency, NYC Health + Hospitals and the NYC Test & Trace Corps provided New Yorkers over 14.5 million COVID tests, over 150 million free COVID-19 rapid antigen at-home tests, and over 2.2 million vaccinations across its hospital facilities, mass vaccination sites, and fleet of mobile vaccination units. The Corps led the largest municipal testing and contact tracing program in the country, creating lasting innovations in how New Yorkers can access healthcare and becoming a leader in what localities can do to identify and break chains of transmission.
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CONTACT: pressoffice@nychhc.org
About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 43,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.