“One of the important efforts we also initiated at the same time was an employee hotline staffed by human resources employees to help respond to concerns,” explains Darcy J. Davis, CEO of the Health Care District of Palm Beach County. “This was absolutely critical, as staff began dispersing and we still had individuals traveling abroad, as well as the need to address an overall uncertainty about next steps, pay implications and quarantine procedures.”

 

Davis continues to film and broadcast weekly video updates to all team members to keep them updated on key developments across the District.

 

At its outpatient clinics for medical, dental, behavioral and women’s services, Davis notes that they completely scaled back physical encounters and moved to a heavy telemedicine approach.

 

“With the reduced patient volumes, we were able to begin our testing efforts quickly,” she says. “We initially started testing outside of three of our 10 sites using our mobile coach however, after two weeks the county of Palm Beach reached out and asked us to assist with mobilizing a State-supported drive-thru testing site at the FITTEAM ballpark in West Palm Beach.”

 

Perhaps one of the few byproducts of this pandemic, she adds, is that they now have the capability to do much more with telemedicine efforts, and out of necessity, their patients at the C. L. Brumback Primary Care Clinics seem to like the convenience of that method.

 

“I anticipate that the demand for remote access to our providers will continue to increase,” Davis adds. “We will certainly support that, and believe it is an excellent method of prioritizing patient needs, but it will not and should not ever replace the ultimate face-to-face encounters with our providers who can assess patients more thoroughly in the office setting.”

 

The Health Care District is currently operating the largest drive-thru testing site in Palm Beach County with the support of Palm Beach County Emergency Services, the Florida National Guard and State of Florida Emergency Management. Additionally, it has a smaller drive-thru site in Belle Glade and walk-up testing sites in Belle Glade, Jupiter, Delray, West Palm Beach and Lantana, which is dedicated primarily to first responders. To date, the team has performed over 22,000 tests in the County or approximately 43% of all tests conducted in Palm Beach County.

 

“Testing at our sites is available to anyone of any age who self-declares the need to be tested,” says Davis. "We do utilize our Lantana location primarily for first responders. Otherwise, anyone can be scheduled for an appointment at any of our locations for testing.”

 

In order to get an appointment, Davis says individuals can call 561-642-1000 to be registered in their system and to receive instructions for the testing process.

 

“Testing for this virus remains an essential part of our ability as a community to manage this contagion and will be with us for the long-term until an effective vaccine is developed,” says Davis. “There are so many unknowns about symptoms and whether or not someone can get the virus multiple times, it is going to be a constant part of our new world to test for COVID-19 regularly. We believe that daily monitoring and screening, as well as testing of our own employees every 30 days is going to be an essential part of our new normal.”

 

In addition to preparing for the pandemic, Davis says the organization has also started planning for the upcoming hurricane season.

 

“Our teams have been tested to the extreme over these past few weeks and stepped up to the challenge,” she says. “As we approach hurricane season, I believe there is more comfort in preparations for that familiar foe, versus the continued unknown of the pandemic. Our ability to communicate with massive numbers of patients and amongst our own team members has never been better. I have no idea what the season will bring, but we are better positioned from a ‘command center’ perspective than we ever have been in the past.”