A Hospital Partnership with a Nursing Home Experiencing a <scp>COVID</scp> ‐19 Outbreak: Description of a <scp>Multiphase</scp> Emergency Response in Toronto, Canada
Nathan M. Stall, Carolyn Farquharson, Chris Fan‐Lun, Lesley Wiesenfeld, Carla Loftus, Dylan Kain, Jennie Johnstone, Liz McCreight, Russell Goldman, Ramona Mahtani
Abstract
Nursing homes have become "ground zero" for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic in North America, with homes experiencing widespread outbreaks, resulting in severe morbidity and mortality among their residents. This article describes a 371-bed acute-care hospital's emergency response to a 126-bed nursing home experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak in Toronto, Canada. Like other healthcare system responses to COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes, this hospital-nursing home partnership can be characterized in several phases: (1) engagement, relationship, and trust building; (2) environmental scan, team building, and immediate response; (3) early-phase response; and (4) stabilization and transition period. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:1376-1381, 2020.