The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the state of New Jersey, the country, and the world, in significant ways. Everyone has been impacted by this disease – from personal struggles with the illness to the loss of family members and friends. For medical professionals, in particular, it’s been a harrowing experience filled with humility and perseverance in trying to save as many lives as possible with so many unknown factors and very few treatments available.
As the largest infectious disease network on the East Coast, ID Care was responsible for treating over 25% of the hospitalized cases of COVID-19 in the state of New Jersey. Dr. Stephen Williams, an infectious disease expert with ID Care, was one of the many doctors on the front lines. His hands-on experience and insights give a unique perspective on the pandemic – from the uncertainty of the beginning stages to the lessons learned moving forward.
Preparing for an Unprecedented Pandemic
For an infectious disease specialist like Dr. Williams, the threat of a pandemic has always been in the back of his mind. “I remember preparing for SARS as a second year fellow and getting fitted for our personal protective suits. They were self-contained oxygen suits. We were preparing for a pandemic, even then.”
However, SARS wasn’t nearly as infectious as COVID-19. It never turned into the full scale pandemic the world has been dealing with over the last year. Perhaps the most recent comparable would be the West African Ebola epidemic of 2013. Dr. Williams didn’t treat Ebola patients himself, but he had colleagues on the front lines in Sierra Leone and they told him stories about how powerless they felt. “They had all of these sick people they really couldn’t do anything for other than give them fluids. And I think that’s how COVID-19 has been for me as there are so few therapeutics available for my patients. Out of anything else in my career, I have never felt more humility around an infectious disease.”
For Dr. Williams, and other healthcare professionals, there was no preparing for a pandemic like COVID-19. It was, and still is, like nothing else infectious disease experts have seen before. Those within healthcare have been forced to make hard choices with very little research to fall back on. Of course, necessity is the mother of invention, and perseverance has been the letter of the law throughout the pandemic. This is the only way Dr. Williams, and his fellow healthcare professionals, have been able to ensure that patients still receive the very best care in spite of the uncertain conditions surrounding an unknown disease.
Navigating Through Uncertainty
For specialists like Dr. Williams – in addition to nurses, administrators, and other healthcare professionals— the COVID-19 pandemic has been an exercise in finding answers in the face of adversity. Real stories from the front lines show the intersection of humanity, ingenuity, and teamwork in creating a better vision for healthcare moving forward.
“Very early on in the pandemic, I saw a young man, younger than me,” said Dr. Williams. “This was when the surge started to really hit. We were getting many more patients and our ICUs were starting to fill up. This young man had a wife and two young children. He came in very, very sick. In fact, as soon as he showed up to the emergency department he was found to be in respiratory collapse and was intubated and put on a ventilator machine. I remember thinking to myself, ‘What did I have to help him?’”
Without any proven therapies available, Dr. Williams was forced to turn to theoretical treatments. In this particular case, he recommended an experimental medication used for rheumatoid arthritis. Dr. Williams didn’t know the long term side effects of the drug, and in fact, he wasn’t certain the treatment would even work. But after some preliminary research and personal discussions with other ID Care experts, Dr. Williams felt the experimental medication was the only course of action he could offer.
“I’ve never had that experience of not knowing the side effects, not knowing how it’s really going to affect a person, and not knowing what the long-term impact will be,” said Dr. Williams. “[But I presented the option to the patient’s wife and] she didn’t hesitate. She was ready to go. She said, yes, let’s go, let’s give him the drug, and I remember thinking how desperate she must have felt, and then thinking, how desperate I was too.”
Looking back on it now, Dr. Williams isn’t certain the drug helped the patient. “We typically don’t use that drug anymore because we found out it didn’t help. But at the time we thought maybe it would. And that was enough.” Thankfully, the patient recovered, and Dr. Williams was thankful to be able to lean on his colleagues at ID Care through it all. “Discussions with people within our large practice were very helpful. I remember feeling so grateful to be able to bounce ideas off of each other during such an uncertain time.”
The Power of Collaborating With Infectious Disease Specialists
ID Care, like no other infectious disease practice in the country, is home to the largest network of board-certified physicians dedicated solely to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious diseases. As clinical leaders, innovators, and researchers, the ID Care team spends every moment trying to provide solutions for a comprehensive range of illnesses and infections. Now more than ever, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light the importance of what ID Care does day-in and day-out. “Infectious diseases have a major impact on our society,” said Dr. Williams. “And to ignore that is at our own peril.”
The ability to get various opinions from inside one collaborative organization provides the confidence needed to create care plans built to withstand the unpredictability of events like the COVID-19 pandemic. Even for Dr. Williams, an infectious disease specialist himself, such collaboration proved to be an invaluable resource for treating patients on the front lines. “I learned a lot from this experience, and having all of these specialists involved. It was very, very useful.”
That being said, the importance of infectious disease care and the need for collaboration between physicians and specialists in treating patients, shouldn’t be the only lesson taken away from the front lines of COVID-19. Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Williams spent much of his time inside healthcare organizations across New Jersey. And he believes healthcare facilities of all sizes could benefit from collaborating with an infectious disease specialist too. Moving forward, this will be more important than ever. “The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed many vulnerabilities within our healthcare system,” said Dr. Williams. “And we all must work together to improve those.”
Prevention and Preparedness for Healthcare Organizations
Dr. Williams can recall how – due to lack of regulations – many healthcare facilities suffered in the early days of the pandemic. “The one thing that was overlooked initially was how infectious COVID-19 was and how quickly it could spread in vulnerable environments – like those within healthcare facilities.”
Now, only a few months later, there are many new regulations to shore up those vulnerabilities and ID Care is unique in its ability to determine how healthcare organizations can meet those requirements. “We understand that this is a confusing process for many facilities,” said Dr. Williams. “There are many changes that need to be made, and you may not understand why or how they must be implemented.”
With over 50 infectious disease specialists on staff, ID Care has the ability to educate healthcare facilities with a hands-on approach to prevention and preparedness. How can you shore up weaknesses you may have? How can you structure your building to where you can better manage an outbreak? How can you educate staff who have questions such as “I was exposed and what can I do to protect my family?” These are questions that can only be answered by an expert, and ID Care is unmatched in its ability to consult, inform, and implement.
Of course new state mandates are requiring a higher level of infectious disease expertise within many facilities, but for healthcare organizations that are not only interested in doing something required by a regulatory body, but also concerned with doing something to improve patient care – ID Care is the perfect partner.
Tapping Into ID Care Expertise and Experience
Having been on the front lines of COVID-19, and seeing its negative effects on so many peoples’ lives, ID Care’s goal is simple. “We want to make an impact on improving the quality of your facility to ensure the safety of your patients and your staff,” said Dr. Williams. “This is what people look for when entrusting their family members to your facility’s care. And that is important to ID Care. We want to make families feel safe within your facility.”
ID Care is dedicated to ensuring fewer healthcare professionals feel helpless in the face of this disease. And progress is being made every day. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, ID Care has helped healthcare organizations across New Jersey create and implement the most effective protocols for protecting patients and staff. And we would be proud to be your partner in creating the best possible outcomes for your facility moving forward, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Simply give us a call at 908-281-0610 to schedule a consultation with an ID Care expert or visit idcare.com to learn more.