Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hôpital de La Tour has been preparing to handle the influx of patients. While the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) are treating patients with the coronavirus, our facility is supporting the canton by managing emergency hospitalizations and severe cases—excluding COVID-19—that require intensive or continuous care. In addition, Hôpital de La Tour also serves as a testing center. This situation requires a major reorganization of care as well as more demanding day-to-day management within the hospital. Healthcare providers are on the front lines caring for patients, but all other teams have a role to play in their respective areas.
Setting up the testing tent alone required the involvement of several departments, which together did a remarkable job in a very short time. The technical teams coordinated the construction and fitting out of the premises; the SUM care team assessed the need for consultation rooms and specimen collection rooms and then defined the patient flow; and the IT department installed the network inside the tent to ensure conditions were the same as elsewhere in the hospital.
Other operational departments are also being called upon. For example, the Purchasing and Biomedical Department is responsible for supplying equipment to the testing center—a major challenge during this crisis. The kitchen steps up every day to feed the reinforcements, such as civil defense personnel. The Housekeeping Department, for its part, has had to step up the cleaning and disinfection of the hospital premises and take charge of the new areas dedicated to testing. In addition, the laundry team must also cope with the influx of healthcare workers from outside the hospital, who need to be provided with work uniforms, and manage the special attire worn at the COVID-19 testing center.
The administrative sector is also contributing to the collective effort. For example, Human Resources and Accounting are working together to organize furlough arrangements; the Billing and Admissions departments are establishing processes for managing HUG patients; and Management Control is implementing activity monitoring indicators to anticipate the crisis’s impact on our institution.
All of our teams—not only those mentioned but also all the others—are involved in managing the coronavirus response and are demonstrating admirable adaptability and unwavering professionalism. They are handling both their regular duties and the new tasks imposed by the crisis with equal skill.
For this, and for their dedication during this difficult time, we extend our heartfelt thanks to each and every one of our employees.