Goleta Magazine 2020-2021 - 36

healthcare

Local Hospitals
Navigate Coronavirus
Cottage Health adapts to changing needs in 2020
O U R L O C A L H E A LT H C A R E providers have
worked diligently to lead our community through the
ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic. Cottage Health has three
campuses-in Goleta, Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez-to
serve our community.
Dr. David Fisk, Medical Director of Infection Prevention
and Control at Cottage Health and an infectious disease
specialist at Sansum Clinic, is pleased how quickly Cottage
physicians and staff were able to respond to the challenges
this year, working together to keep patients and frontline
hospital staff safe.
" We've really completely transformed how Cottage does
work in 2020, " said Fisk. " We rapidly built capacity to care for
patients with COVID and patients with suspected COVID-
in inpatient, outpatient and emergency settings. "
One of the early decisions made by Cottage Health leadership was to have all patients admitted for COVID treated
at the Santa Barbara location. This helped Cottage cohort
patients for isolation precautions, minimize the use of PPE
(personal protective equipment) and designate specially
trained staff to focus solely on COVID care.
The Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital campus housed the testing tent. In addition to patients with symptoms, all patients
were tested prior to scheduled elective procedures and surgeries. Having this tent and protocol played a major role in
preventing the spread of the virus.

The hospital focused on providing safe care for ongoing
medical needs to protect the overall health of the community throughout the COVID pandemic.
" Over the past months we have developed the ability to
concurrently manage a significant number of patients with
COVID while allowing the hospital to do the traditional
work that doesn't go away in a time of COVID, " said Fisk.
Dr. Robin Malone, Chief of Staff for Goleta Valley Cottage
Hospital, echoed Dr. Fisk's remarks.
" Emergency conditions get worse when you don't deal with
them in the timely manner, " said Malone. " We didn't want
patients to shy away from needed care out of fear of COVID
-it is a success story how safe people have felt coming to
the hospital. "
The Emergency Department at Goleta Valley Cottage
Hospital is well prepared to treat patients in a safe environment. Patients with COVID symptoms can be treated either
outside the emergency department or in isolation rooms
with negative pressure capability, which keeps the air in that
room contained.
" As the virus arrived in our community we quickly saw
firsthand what the virus does and learned how to care for
patients most effectively with the tools we have, " said Dr.
Fisk. " The use of steroids has been the most important. "

Pictured above: Entrance to Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital. Dr. Robin Malone, Chief of Staff for Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital; Arie
DeJong, Vice President of Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital; Dr. David Fisk, Director of Infectious Prevention and Control.

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Goleta Magazine 2020-2021

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