by Jackie Nunnery
Time. For health care systems in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula, they have had the luxury and benefit of time. Time spent watching, learning and preparing as other states and cities have dealt with the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s been two months since the first case was reported in the U.S. in Washington state. And in that time, area health care providers have been changing up how they deliver care and gearing up for a potential outbreak. Watching the outbreak unfold in other communities has allowed Riverside Health System (RHS), which currently operates two hospitals—Riverside Tappahannock and Riverside Walter Reed—and nine primary care practices in the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck, to plan ahead. And that may make all the difference.
Take personal protective equipment (PPE), supplies of which have been an issue across the country. “Our supply chain group were forward thinkers, already getting additional resources before it was…[to-view-more]