Navigating the COVID-19 Pandemic

Dear Colleagues,
This edition of our newsletter is being circulated in the midst of the inconceivable as we collectively navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. 

While we are far from knowing what the outcome will be, the epidemiologic scientific measures that were enacted have helped us get us to a different place and see true hope for keeping our community safe.

Over recent weeks we have been facing change on a daily basis, learning exponentially, and rewriting approaches iteratively. It has been a source of true strength to be one with our  extraordinary faculty, learners, and healthcare professionals who have meet challenge after challenge. What I can tell you is the work that has been done here is nothing short of inspiring.  

One thing that has not changed is the mission that we advance for the children of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and beyond. The excellence in care and innovation at Columbia Children’s Health and in our NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital are robust and unwavering. The advancement of mission is strong. 
The path to the other side of this pandemic is becoming clear and I have full faith in our department and broader Children’s Health team. We are establishing COVID-safe practices to ensure that patients who need to come to see us are safeguarded. As we have recently launched the EPIC EHR we have benefited from its robust telehealth platform and have been engaged in hundreds of telehealth visits each week. 

We look forward to utilizing many different tools to improve the quality, safety, and accessibility of our care and our direct linkages to you, and to advance our expertise during this time of challenge. We will be sharing these programs and innovations in coming weeks and look forward to engaging with you to provide the very best care to the children in your practices and communities.

For now, we continue focus intensely upon the tasks at hand, and on existing indefatigably as New York City’s children’s hospital and ensuring that mission does not falter. While we are clearly facing the challenge of a century it is something that we will do together and ensure the health and well-being of our future generations. It is also helpful to look back as the Babies and Children’s Hospital of New York (the predecessor to NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital) was here to navigate the 1918 influenza pandemic. It did so with great tenacity and innovation and helped the children of New York find their future. We carry that legacy forward today. We are collectively rising through this challenge and are here to partner with you in doing so.

In solidarity,

Jordan S. Orange MD, PhD
Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University