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Christa Hyson, MPH
Senior Manager, External Relations
(513) 247-5254
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – READ IN SPANISH
Alternate Care Site Established for Greater Cincinnati Region
CINCINNATI – Public health measures like social distancing are working. Thanks to the difficult decisions made by local and state leaders and the actions of Greater Cincinnati residents, we are “flattening the curve” together.
By responding to the COVID-19 pandemic as a single, collaborative region, we have been able to consolidate and share resources to keep our community healthy. Although difficult, updated hospital visitation restrictions and the cancellation of elective procedures, have allowed us to conserve our resources, personal protective equipment, and staff availability.
Greater Cincinnati hospital systems are working with The Health Collaborative, along with the City of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, and the State of Ohio-Butler County Incident Management Team to establish an Alternate Care Site (ACS) at the Duke Energy Convention Center to support the potential surge of COVID-19 positive patients in the region.
Dustin Calhoun, MD FAEMS, is the physician lead for the implementation of the ACS. Calhoun serves as medical director, emergency management at UC Health, the region’s academic health system. “I’m proud to be part of this process,” explains Calhoun. “To see leaders coming together from the area health systems in the name of serving our community is really special and a hallmark of Cincinnati.”
All patients will be directly transferred from area hospitals. Patients who are transferred to the ACS still need to be isolated from the public with the support of hospital staff prior to being released. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the patients the ACS will be treating, visitation will not be allowed at the facility.
The ACS will initially have 98 medical surge beds and 48 post-acute beds, with possibility of expansion if needed. Staffing will be provided by all southwest Ohio hospital systems. Through Conduit Health Partners, our region has established a centralized triage and transfer approach. This includes safe transport, patient navigation, admission, and readmission mitigation. By utilizing data to monitor, in real time, the capacity of our region’s hospitals, we can provide patients with the most effective care possible.
Craig Brammer, CEO of The Health Collaborative says, “I have been incredibly impressed by the level of collaboration and focus exhibited by our region’s senior-most healthcare leaders and clinical experts. Our community has pulled together in an unprecedented way over the past several weeks.” The Health Collaborative is proud to convene over 175 medical and public health leaders in 16 teams in a unified command structure, to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic together.
For more information about COVID-19 in Greater Cincinnati visit: https://healthcollab.org/covid-19/
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About The Health Collaborative: The Health Collaborative is a non-profit organization that leads data-driven improvements that result in healthier people, better care and lower costs. For more information about The Health Collaborative, visit healthcollab.org.
