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. 2022 May 24:10:709848.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.709848. eCollection 2022.

A Restructured Hospital Into a One-Building Organization for COVID-19 Patients: A Resilient and Effective Response to the Pandemic

Simon Bessis  1   2 , Aurélien Dinh  1   2 , Sylvain Gautier  2   3 , Benjamin Davido  1   2 , Jonathan Levy  2   4 , Christine Lawrence  5 , Anne-Sophie Lot  6 , Djamel Bensmail  2   4 , Célia Rech  4 , Muriel Farcy-Afif  7 , Frédérique Bouchand  7 , Pierre de Truchis  1 , Jean-Louis Herrmann  2   5 , Frédéric Barbot  8 , David Orlikowski  2   8 , Pierre Moine  2   9 , Christian Perronne  1   2 , Loïc Josseran  2   3 , Hélène Prigent  2   10 , Djillali Annane  2   9
Affiliations

A Restructured Hospital Into a One-Building Organization for COVID-19 Patients: A Resilient and Effective Response to the Pandemic

Simon Bessis et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is a unique crisis challenging healthcare institutions as it rapidly overwhelmed hospitals due to a large influx of patients. This major event forced all the components of the healthcare systems to adapt and invent new workflows. Thus, our tertiary care hospital was reorganized entirely. During the cruising phase, additional staff was allocated to a one-building organization comprising an intensive care unit (ICU), an acute care unit, a physical medicine and rehabilitation unit, and a COVID-19 screening area. The transfer of patients from a ward to another was more efficient due to these organizations and pavilion structure. The observed mortality was low in the acute care ward, except in the palliative unit. No nosocomial infection with SARS-CoV-2 was reported in any other building of the hospital since this organization was set up. This type of one-building organization, integrating all the components for comprehensive patient care, seems to be the most appropriate response to pandemics.

Keywords: COVID-19 outbreak; emerging infection; infection control; preparedness; resilience.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Detailed plan of the COVID building units (in pink color, units dedicated for COVID).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Patients pathway in COVID-building during the pandemic. The thickness of the lines is proportional to the size of the patients' flow. This flow diagram does not take into account the temporality. It describes the trajectory of the patients according to the passages in the different departments. PMR, physical medicine and rehabilitation; ICU, intensive care unit.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Visualization of patient numbers by date and the three phases of the crisis. The healthcare staff in intensive care and acute care are informed at the start of each phase and a trend in staff numbers is reported for each phase. PMR, physical medicine and rehabilitation; ICU, intensive care unit; RWU, respiratory weaning unit.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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