ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: In pandemics, centralized healthcare leadership is a critical requirement. The objective of this study was to analyze the early development, operation, and effectiveness of a COVID-19 organizational leadership team and transformation of healthcare services at West Virginia University Hospitals and Health System (WVUHS). The analysis focused on how Kotter's Leading Change eight-stage paradigm could contribute to an understanding of the determinants of successful organizational change in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The fifteen core leaders of WVUHS COVID-19 strategic system were interviewed. A qualitative thematic analysis of the interviews was used to evaluate key aspects of leadership dynamics and system-wide changes in healthcare policies and protocols to contain the pandemic. Outcome measures included the degree to which WVUHS could handle and contain COVID-19 cases as well as COVID-19 death and vaccination rates in West Virginia compared with other states. RESULTS: The leadership team radically and rapidly revamped nearly all healthcare policies, procedures, and protocols for WVUHS hospitals and clinics, and launched a Hospital Incident Command System. As a result of this effective leadership team and strategic plan, WVUHS surge capacity was adequate for COVID-19 cases. In addition, West Virginia was an early frontrunner in COVID-19 vaccination rates as well as lower death rates. CONCLUSION: WVUHS's leadership response to the COVID-19 pandemic followed Kotter's eight-stage paradigm for Leading Change in organizations, including the establishment of a sense of urgency, formation of a powerful guiding coalition, creation of a vision, communication of the vision, empowerment of others to act on the vision, plan for and creation of short-term wins, consolidation of improvements and production of more changes, and institutionalization of new approaches. This approach was effective in limiting the spread and impact of COVID-19 within the hospital network and across the state, with many lessons learned along the way.
ABSTRACT
After its identification as a human pathogen in 2019, the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has spread rapidly around the world. Health care workers worldwide have had the task of preparing and responding to the pandemic with little evolving data or guidelines. Regarding the protocols for our labor and delivery unit, we focused on applying the four pillars of biomedical ethics-beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, and justice-while considering the women, their fetuses, their significant others and support persons, health care professionals and auxiliary staff, and society as a whole. We also considered the downstream effect of our decisions in labor and delivery on other disciplines of medicine, including pediatrics, anesthesiology, and critical care. This article focuses on how these prima facie principles helped guide our recommendations in this unprecedented time.