A video produced by the California Hospital Association and Keck Medicine of USC explores ways hospitals supported their frontline employees as the COVID-19 pandemic stretched team members to the limits over the last 15 months.

Click here to view it.

“Quickly we learned that the pandemic was going to be a marathon, not a sprint for us,” Keck USC Interim CEO Rod Hanners says in the two-minute film.

“We kind of pivoted our Care for the Caregiver program to really focus in on the things that we felt our staff would benefit from — so they could build their resilience and be there for our patients and for each other,” Hanners explains.

Keck USC launched its Care for the Caregiver program in April 2020. Like other health care organizations, the system moved early to back its strained workforce — before multiple waves of COVID-19 hit the region. Planners invested in multiple strategies to remove strain from employees’ shoulders.

The program brought workers 70,000 free meals, more than 26,000 hotel stays to reduce employee family exposure, 10,000 hours of counseling and psychological support, and tutoring and child care services.

Through the pandemic, programs like Keck USC’s have been widespread in health care. While it’s hard to precisely quantify their impact, aid likely kept many professionals in the frontline ranks when replacements were difficult or impossible to find.  

With questions or feedback, contact HASC Vice President, External Affairs and Strategic Communications Adam Blackstone.

Contact:
Adam Blackstone
(213) 538-0761
ablackstone@hasc.org