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Unconventional Care at a Convention Center: An Overview of Patient Focused Care at a COVID-19 Alternative Care Site in New Orleans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2021

Meghan Maslanka ,
John C. Carlson ,
Estaban Gershanik ,
Yanti Turang ,
Jacob Hurwitz ,
Michelle Warren  and
Joseph Kanter
Meghan Maslanka*
Affiliation:
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Medical Monitoring Station, New Orleans, LA, USA Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA
John C. Carlson
Affiliation:
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Medical Monitoring Station, New Orleans, LA, USA Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA
Estaban Gershanik
Affiliation:
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Medical Monitoring Station, New Orleans, LA, USA Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Yanti Turang
Affiliation:
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Medical Monitoring Station, New Orleans, LA, USA
Jacob Hurwitz
Affiliation:
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Medical Monitoring Station, New Orleans, LA, USA Louisiana Department of Health, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
Michelle Warren
Affiliation:
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Medical Monitoring Station, New Orleans, LA, USA Louisiana Department of Health/Office of Public Health Region 1, New Orleans, LA, USA
Joseph Kanter
Affiliation:
Louisiana Department of Health, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
*
Corresponding author: Meghan Maslanka, Email: mmasl1@lsuhsc.edu.
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Abstract

In March 2020, the State of Louisiana opened an alternative care site at the New Orleans Convention Center, known as the Medical Monitoring Station (MMS). The facility was designed, constructed, and staffed to serve a population with basic medical needs as they recovered from COVID-19. As the MMS prepared to open, local hospitals indicated a greater need for assistance with patients requiring a higher acuity of care and populations unable to be discharged due to infection risks. In response to this, the capabilities of the facility were altered to accommodate primarily elderly patients, with significant comorbidities, requiring extensive care. This manuscript presents the demographics of the first 250 patients seen at the MMS, and describes the most critical policies/protocols, interventions, and resources that proved successful in adjusting to effectively serve its population.

Keywords

COVID-19alternative care siteconvention centerelderly
Type
Concepts in Disaster Medicine
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 16 , Issue 6 , December 2022 , pp. 2612 - 2618
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc

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