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George Khasin needed help and he needed it quickly.
The CEO of Togg, a company whose mission is to improve the health of seniors living in assisted homes had just found out one of their facilities had been exposed to COVID-19. Since senior citizens are particularly vulnerable to the virus they would need to do something right away to avoid massive spread.
The stakes were high.
“In pandemics, everyone is paying a ‘speed premium’ or the cost of moving too slowly,” Khasin says. “ The difference between 2–3 days and seven days could mean life or death.”
A pair of recent studies from similar patient populations in Washington State showed if an outbreak were to occur, the hospitalization rate was greater than 50% and, even more grave, the mortality rate was greater than 30%. Additionally, relying on conventional symptom-based screening could miss about half of COVID-19 positive patients completely.
He instantly reached out to Carbon Health to see how the two companies could work together.
Within 48 hours they had come up with a solution: They would go in themselves and test the entire facility.
One day.
11 Carbon Health providers.
75 staff members.
78 residents.
Led by Carbon Health’s regional medical director, Dr. Roger Wu, MD, the team set out for a full day of testing at Elder Ashram in Oakland. The minute they arrived, they knew they were exactly where they needed to be.
“Many of the residents had photographs on their walls of their children and grandchildren — family members who had not been able to visit since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic due to changes in the visitor policy,” Dr. Wu recalls. “Those photographs humanized the whole operation and reminded me of the importance of why we were there.”
Dr. Gonzalo Del Puerto, MD, the head of clinical product at Togg, was impressed by how all the teams came together.
“We had all met that morning yet we were able to work together very efficiently as if we had known each other for a long time,” he shares.
Fletcher Munksgard, FNP-C, the East Bay Clinician Manager and Ultrasound Program Manager for Carbon Health, said he was particularly touched by how the Togg staff worked with seniors struggling with dementia.
“I noticed that a lot of the staff were telling the patients they were proud of them being courageous enough to do the swab,” he says. “You could see on the patients’ faces that even though they maybe didn’t fully understand what they had done to deserve that praise, they felt proud for doing it.”
He remembers one patient was particularly confused about what was going on so the staff got her son on FaceTime to explain she was doing the right thing.
“It was nice to see those patients feeling like they had taken part in helping out their fellow residents,” Munksgard says.
Dr. Neeru Singh, MD, a Carbon Health doctor based in the Bay Area agrees.
“I think what really stood out to me is how collaborative the efforts were with the facility, the Togg team, and our teams to help get this high risk and fragile population evaluated and tested,” she shares. “It is not the most comfortable procedure and everyone was working so hard to make sure patients were informed, calm, and ready.”
She says the sense of community among the patients was heartwarming.
“I do recall one of the patients telling me that she didn’t want her roommate or herself to get sick or the virus. She continued to remind me to go get her roommate and get her tested as well.
“These patients really depend on companionship while at these long term care facilities and it can be so detrimental to their mental health to lose a friend while they are there. I am so happy that Carbon Health made it a priority to get these patients tested!”
Khasin couldn’t be more proud of what they were able to accomplish together in such a short amount of time.
“By the end, three different groups…all found their zones and executed flawlessly,” he says. “…they moved fast and delivered.”
Many clinicians have been on the frontlines of the coronavirus crisis since the beginning of the pandemic, but increased demand for tests and safety concerns have made it more and more difficult to get our patients the care they need when they need it.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten the health and safety of people across the United States and around the world, it’s important to act quickly when situations like this one in Oakland arise. By getting ahead of the problem, we can flatten the curve together.
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