For Lauren Campbell, Weathering Storms Is All in a Day’s Work

Every day, VNSNY’s staff serves as a lifeline for vulnerable New Yorkers in their homes and communities, knocking on doors or conducting telehealth visits to provide care and connection. That lifeline is all the more critical in times of emergency, when pandemics, storms, power outages and the like threaten to cut our patients and plan members off from much-needed care.

Long before those knocks on doors or telehealth visits take place, however, the VNSNY Emergency Response team is hard at work making sure that our staff is prepared and that the right people have the right resources, support and knowledge in the right place at the right time to deliver the right care to those who need it.

“Our Emergency Response team pulls expertise from those staff members who are most knowledgeable about the organization,” says Lauren Campbell, Emergency Response Systems Manager. The team follows the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s “incident command” structure for an agile comprehensive response, she notes. “We make sure that key departments have the right guidance to help them respond and operate during major events. Usually, this is a small group for storms like Isaias, Laura or Sally and other natural events. But for the COVID-19 pandemic, it was all hands on deck.”

VNSNY’s COVID-19 emergency response has been multi-faceted and continues to evolve. It included procurement of PPE, staff training on handwashing and other protocols as well as proper donning and doffing of PPE, and ensuring facilities’ safety. In addition, a new COVID-19 group was created within the Emergency Response structure, called the Clinical Expertise Response Team (CERT). Led by Tony Dawson, VP of Quality and Customer Experience, the CERT ensures that key clinical decision-makers are kept informed about constantly changing health and safety guidelines, and also educates staff and updates protocols as needed.

Behind the scenes, Lauren worked with the VNSNY Incident Commanders and senior leaders to make sure that “all systems were GO,” as VNSNY prepared for and weathered the COVID-19 storm. “Every person did an outstanding job to keep our operations going,” Lauren says, “They were able to aggressively respond and work together so we could—and still can—deliver the safe and effective care needed during COVID.”

Lauren emphasizes that annual exercises and regular training help keep the Emergency Response Team prepared and ready to act. As New York moves through one of the most active hurricane seasons in years, the team—honed by the urgency of the pandemic and bearing in mind additional concerns such as social distancing and PPE requirements—is well-prepared to deliver this storm season on VNSNY’s mission of caring for the most vulnerable in times of crisis.

During Tropical Storm Isaias and its lingering power outages in August, for example. VNSNY Call Center nurses, working in partnership with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and with the American Red Cross, helped an anxious granddaughter care for her chronically ill grandmother, whose insulin needed refrigeration and whose legs were swelling, a worrisome symptom for someone with high blood pressure.

Throughout the many emergencies in 2020, Lauren has watched with pride as VNSNY teams have responded with urgency and impact. “I’m the Emergency Response Systems manager, so I manage the processes and make sure that people are trained and understand their roles,” she says. “But it’s the team members who really kick into action when an emergency happens. When times are hard, VNSNY really goes out of its way to make sure everyone’s okay—our patients, our health plan members and our own staff.”

Emergency Response Team for COVID-19

During our COVID-19 response, the VNSNY Emergency Response Team comprised more than 50 VNSNY staff from VNSNY Corporate, CHOICE and Provider Services under the direction of Incident Commanders Hany Abdelaal and Andria Castellanos. The team included the following staff (if we left anyone out, please contact Frontline to let us know):