Northwell Health: Here Comes the Sun

Northwell Health is New York’s largest healthcare provider, serving New York City, Long Island and Westchester; it strives to improve the health of the communities it serves; and is committed to providing the highest quality clinical care. These words took on even more meaning when New York became the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic this past spring—impacting every location and every department across the system.

And that means each location and each department has a story that we are honored to feature. Jennifer Marchese, Associate Director, Patient Logistics at Staten Island University Hospital; Oliver Perez, Director of Support Services at North Shore University Hospital; and Mary McGinn, Director of Patient Throughput at Lenox Hill Hospital share their stories—the challenges, the changes, the teamwork and the inspiring moments.

Prepared and Confident

Jennifer Marchese is the Associate Director, Patient Logistics at Staten Island University Hospital, where she oversees a team of 96 patient transporters, who normally average 14,000-15,000 jobs a month. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jennifer recognized the importance of centralizing the patient transport department. One year later the outcomes proved invaluable when faced with the massive rush of transport jobs due to a surge in patients.

The decentralized department performed approximately 150,000 jobs in 2018; after centralizing in 2019, the department performed an additional 20,000 jobs without hiring additional staff. The department had a clear vision and understanding of the new workflows, expectations, and impact on the hospital.

The newly-organized department was less reactive, and the team adhered to the hospital’s policies and procedures—keeping themselves and their patients safe.

This was why the team was efficient during the height of the pandemic.

This story can be found in the 2020 Fall Issue of TeleTracking's Patient Flow Quarterly Magazine. Download the full issue.