On March 3, 2020, Medisys Health Network - which operates both Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and Flushing Hospital Medical Center in Queens - admitted its first patient who was suspected of having COVID-19. That diagnosis took about five days to confirm, and within two weeks, the network had admitted 30 confirmed COVID-19 patients.

That number grew to 150, and then 400. By the first week of April, the hospital system hit its peak, with 500 coronavirus patients admitted. Out of that number, 150 were on ventilators.

In the early days of the pandemic, Queens quickly became the epicenter within the epicenter, as hospitals struggled to handle overwhelming demand. Many scrambled to amass PPE, but Bruce Flanz, president and CEO of Medisys Health Network, said their Jamaica and Flushing hospitals had enough for all health workers. 

“That was critically important,” Flanz told NY1’s Dean Meminger. He said the largest challenge was actually having enough staff, causing them to close some outpatient services and transfer the staff to the hospitals. In addition, some staff were cross trained to take care of more critically ill patients.

One year later, Jamaica Hospital Medical Center is adapting to care for so-called “long haulers,” those who continue to experience symptoms months after they have otherwise recovered from the virus. The hospital has opened a post-COVID-19 care center, in which each patient is assigned to a primary care physician. There is also a pulmonologist and psychologist, as well as other specialists, which Flanz said allows them to provide comprehensive care under one setting.

As for the biggest lesson learned over the past year?

“Communicate, communicate, communicate,” Flanz said.

He said it is crucial to trust the team, and “make the best decisions that you can based on the information you have at the time. But in a crisis, that information is changing all the time.”