Page 6 - Silver Linings Issue2

“It was a difficult year in a lot of ways for us, and across the board, the Silver Hill staff answered the call and responded quickly to the crisis.”
Peter Porcelli Director of Safety and Support Services
Director of Safety and Support Services Peter Porcelli leads Silver Hill’s Incident Command Team, which addresses the hospital’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.
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Handler says telemedicine has been transformative for all medicine.
Groat is proud of the way the clinical staff stepped up and adapted to the
and computer monitors for Silver Hill staff and volunteers. ITS also provided each board member with an iPad to virtually carry
The automated scheduling and booking of a vaccination time, made possible by ITS, was instrumental in helping on-site and remote employees navigate the process.
Safe Dining Services
Henry Godfrey has been at Silver Hill for 14 years. As Director of Dining Services, Chef Henry knows how important it is to provide nutritious meals to Silver Hill’s patients and staff. Safety has always been a top priority in the kitchen, but COVID moved safety protocols to another level.
Silver Hill had to cut down on the number of patients allowed in the dining area at one time. That meant
COVID-19
HEROES ON THE FRONTLINE
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New patients were screened thoroughly before admission.
“The biggest thing was trying to stay ahead of it – prescreening patients and having an isolation space available should someone get the virus,” says Mia Handler, MD, Director of Psychiatry.
Perhaps the biggest change
to come out of the pandemic is telemedicine. It had been a growing trend before COVID-19, but has now become commonplace for medical and psychiatric care.
challenges created by the pandemic. “Everyone had a different challenge, and everyone adjusted,” he says.
IT Services
The members of the Silver Hill Hospital Information Technology Services (ITS) Department were the invisible hands working behind the scenes to help guide the hospital through the pandemic, from the early stages to the vaccination of its staff.
Early in the crisis, ITS secured and deployed more than 100 laptops
out their duties with the ability to collaborate in real time. In addition, the hospital’s firewall was upgraded and internet speed was doubled to ensure greater functionality.