In the last week of March 2020, more than 650 COVID-19 patients were admitted to Montefiore Health System, and the numbers were increasing exponentially. The department of medicine had been managing most hospitalized COVID-19 patients and urgently needed a  strategy to address the escalating crisis. Yaron Tomer, M.D., chair of medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore  Medical Center and his leadership team, quickly devised and implemented a “Three C Teamwork” plan: Coordination,  Communication, and  Collaboration.

In a paper published online on March 18 in Frontiers in Medicine, Dr. Tomer and colleagues describe their department’s effective response to the evolving  COVID-19 crisis.  The department deployed faculty and house staff to numerous COVID ICU’s and medicine units, developed clinical protocols based on the latest guidelines; performed research that advanced new therapies for COVID-19, such as steroids, remdesivir, and convalescent plasma; educated medical students, residents, and fellows; and reached out to support the affected local community. The 3C strategy included daily task force meetings, daily electronic communications to all members of the department, and constant collaboration with institutional leadership and other departments. The 3C emergency plan described in the manuscript, offers a framework and a model that other health centers can adopt to address similar crises.

Dr. Tomer is also professor of medicine and of microbiology & immunology and the Anita and Jack Saltz Chair in Diabetes Research at Einstein.