8 Lessons from a COVID-19 Surge Hotspot

This webpage provides information from Northwell Health’s learning to date about developing COVID-19 surge plans, as one of the earliest and hardest hit health systems in the U.S. with 23 hospitals and 800 outpatient centers north, south, and east of New York City. This health system went from one COVID-19 positive patient in one hospital in early March to over 3,000 COVID-19 positive patients in their hospitals with more than 600 on ventilators in a very short period of time. The takeaways highlight Northwell Health’s experience with planning, communication, capacity building, and staff support and protection, among other important actions from which health systems and hospitals can learn.