COVID-19 Ushers in Hospitals of the Future

Tim Putnam runs a 25-bed hospital in rural southeastern Indiana that got hit hard by COVID-19. 

"We were slammed in March of 2020. We had more cases per capita in our region than, I believe, anywhere. We were equal to New York City," says Putnam, CEO of Margaret Mary Health. "We were just unlucky. We had a few people that were positive that went to large events in the region, and we started getting a lot of people coming in here."   At the peak of the pandemic, Putnam's staff was caring for 40 inpatients. Considerations to relocate COVID-19 patients to stadiums or conference centers were dismissed as impractical. The community donated or made masks for health care workers. The local RV dealer even offered up his recreational vehicles for staff to sleep in or as mobile clinics. Several hospital staffers got sick, but they all recovered.   Before the pandemic, hospital planners were more focused on outpatient services and hadn’t given a great deal of thought to how to adapt in the event of a massive health care emergency like a pandemic.