The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and has subsequently escalated exponentially worldwide. As this virus has never been experienced previously, it poses a significant challenge to healthcare systems who are poorly equipped to handle the large number of gravely ill patients who seek medical attention. Additionally, treating providers are placing their own lives at risk due to the lack of adequate personal protective equipment. We are reporting the proactive measures that were implemented at our healthcare system in a metropolitan community in Kentucky to address COVID-19. The primary goal was to maintain a safe environment for providers, staff, and patients. Three key strategies were incorporated at our healthcare system, including 1) innovative processes/operations; 2) clear and transparent communication; and 3) adaptations in infrastructure. As the COVID-19 pandemic is highly fluid, we continually update our policies according to national, state, and local guidelines and recommendations.

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has intensified globally since its origin in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Many medical groups across the United States have experienced extraordinary clinical and financial pressures due to COVID-19 as a result of a decline in elective inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures and most nonurgent elective physician visits. The current study reports how our medical group in a metropolitan community in Kentucky rebooted our ambulatory and inpatient services following the guidance of our state's phased reopening. Particular attention focused on the transition between the initial COVID-19 surge and post-COVID-19 surge and how our medical group responded to meet community needs. Ten strategies were incorporated in our medical group, including heightened communication; ambulatory telehealth; safe and clean outpatient environment; marketing; physician, other medical provider, and staff compensation; high quality patient experience; schedule optimization; rescheduling tactics; data management; and primary care versus specialty approaches. These methods are applicable to both the current rebooting stage as well as to a potential resurgence of COVID-19 in the future.

Wildfires have become a regular seasonal disaster across the Western region of the United States. Wildfires require a multifaceted disaster response. In addition to fire suppression, there are public health and medical needs for responders and the general population in the path of the fire, as well as a much larger population impacted by smoke. This paper describes key aspects of the health and medical response to wildfires in California, including facility evacuation and shelter medical support, with emphasis on the organization, coordination, and management of medical teams deployed to fire incident base camps. This provides 1 model of medical support and references resources to help other jurisdictions that must respond to the rising incidence of large wildland fires.