COVID-19 collaborative model for an academic hospital and long-term care facilities

Archbald-Pannone, Laurie R.; Harris, Drew A.; Albero, Kimberly; Steele, Rebecca L.; Pannone, Aaron F.; Mutter, Justin B.

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic is devastating post-acute and long-term care (PA/LTC). As geriatricians practicing in PA/LTC and a regional academic medical center, we created this program for collaboration between academic medical centers and regional PA/LTC facilities. The mission of the geriatric engagement and resource integration in post-acute and long-term care facilities (GERI-PaL) program is to support optimal care of residents in PA/LTC facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are 5 main components of our program: (1) Project ECHO; (2) Nursing liaisons; (3) Infection advisory consultation; (4) Telemedicine consultation; and (5) Resident social contact remote connections. Implementation of this program has had positive response from our local PA/LTC facilities. A key component of our program is our inter-professional team, which includes physicians, nursing, emergency response, and public health experts. With diverse professional backgrounds, our team have created a new model for academic medical centers to collaborate with local PA/LTC facilities.