COVID Support Operations Team
September 2020
Covid
Team
COVID Support Operations Team
The University of Kansas Health System
Megan Daulton, RN;
Vickie Adams, RN;
Angie West, RN;
Bethany Ramm, RN;
Anna Fisk, RN;
Heidi Boehm, RN;
Bethan Ramm, RN;
Anne Gramkow, RN;
Shelley Zell, RN;
Nicole McNeil;
Mallory Mcneal, RN;
Somer Shaw;
Ahvy Whiteside, RN;
Kim Dixon, RN;
Racheal Liesman;
Lisa Muha;
Claire Sutherlin, RN;
Emnet Lemma, RN;
Adam Meier, RN

 

 

 

From the beginning of the pandemic preparedness at TUKHS, members of the Ambulatory COVID-19 Response Team have risen to the challenge to create, innovate, and adapt to the new needs and asks of both health system employees and patients. What began as a service intended for TUKHS employees quickly expanded to a service that has reached many areas of the KC Metro and Greater Kansas areas. Patients, family members, first responders, students, have had readily available resources for symptom triage, travel screening, swab scheduling, and ongoing symptom monitoring because of this remarkable team. service, compassionate care, and trusting relationships they formed with others.

As a never-before-formed team, the individuals who have stepped up to form and sustain the COVID-19 Response Team have accomplished monumental achievements in a matter of weeks to months. Nurses from many different areas (outpatient clinics, inpatient units, advanced practice clinicians, care management coordinators, quality outcomes coordinators, and many others) have chosen to be stretched and grown into these new roles and teams for the unforeseeable future. Whether it be establishing a reputation of trust and consistency with employees who interact with the COVID-19 Response Team, to reassuring and comforting concerned patients and families, this team has done the unthinkable.

Teaming with consistent team members can be challenging in its own right, but this team has accomplished strong relationships, training, protocols, procedures, and standard work with an ever-changing pool of staff members and frontline leaders. Whenever the needs of the organization or the community have required it, this team has shown up on weekends, late nights, and holidays, and worked long hours to ensure the service needed by our community is available. It is truly because of our team that TUKHS is weathering the storm of this pandemic as the region's leader in prevention and management.

A specific story comes to mind when members of the COVID-19 Response Team worked alongside executives, directors, and frontline staff members to safely arrange a COVID-19 swab test for a patient who was bed-bound at home. The team used critical thinking skills, practiced teamwork, and concern for providing the most excellent care to facilitate a home visit to perform the swab test for this patient. I truly couldn't be prouder of this team and their leadership and ingenuity during this monumental time for the healthcare fields.