My Covid Diaries
Friends, Things are worse off here than I thought. Initially I thought maybe the Long Island hospitals wouldn't be as bad off and I guess that's true but this hospital (an underfunded, publicly supported academic medical center) has been severely impacted. I have a feeling this place was always under-resourced but it is quite glaring now. The surgical ICU, trauma ICU, cardiac ICU, pediatric ICU, and rehab units have all been converted to adult medical ICUs dealing with covid patients, majority intubated. I thought I'd get a little orientation, new badge, parking, maybe even a half-day learning the computer systems but instead was put straight onto the unit to lead rounds at 7 am. We ran all day. I am supervising a team of 5 interns, 3 residents and a critical care fellow in caring for 16-20 of these patients. They have all been working 100+ hour weeks. Medical students (all students actually) have been banned. Since March 15th, this team has had only one pat...