Combating the Covid-19 Epidemic
A webinar on “Combating the Covid-19 Epidemic: Experiences from the hospitals in selected European countries” was held on 15th September, 2020.
The meeting was started with a welcome message by Dr. Nader Tavakoli, Vice chancellor of curative affairs, from Iran University of Medical Sciences.
The webinar was coordinated by Dr. Eric de Roodenbeke, CEO of the International Hospital Federation.
Professor Helmut Kern, previous CEO of Hospital Brothers of St. John of God Vienna, from Austria talked about “Human Resources Management during Covid-19”. He concluded his speech with the following key Learnings:
• Speed beats perfection.
• Leadership is of the essence.
• Be decisive, not divisive.
• Take care of your staff, then your staff takes care of the rest.
Professor Mamuka Chkhaidze, the deputy of CEO clinical, Evex Hospitals, from Georgia, talked about:” Role of the private sector in preparedness for and response to COVID-19”. The key Message of his speech was:
- Private sector needs less time to take decision and start action (at least in Georgia)
- Private sector (especially big corporations) must start anti-crisis actions independently, in cooperation with MOH and NCDC.
Some initiatives must go from private sector.
- Support from government is very essential for private sector, in the situations like COVID pandemic. Tight cooperation between them is the guarantee of success.”
Dr. Luis Santos Pinheiro , Medical Director/ Chief Medical Officer, from Centro Hospitalar Universitario Lisbon Norte, from Portugal talked about: “Continuity of non-COVID 19 essential health services and surge capacity”. He talked about the key challenges they faced during the crisis and the solutions. He ended his speech with the following final thoughts:
Deal with (permanent) uncertainty
Don’t be overwhelmed by COVID-19 as Non-COVID19 can’t be “postponed”
Do the “same” (treat patients) in a different way
There were about 150 participants from hospitals, faculty members and postgraduate students who actively participated in the webinar and raised their questions.
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