Huntington Hospital says it is prepared as the Covid-19 epidemic continues spread this fall.
Dr. Nick Fitterman, president of the hospital, said Thursday that “We’v done quite a bit” to prepare for another wave of the outbreak, which hit Huntington hard in March and April. More than 300 people died just in Apri in Huntington, according to town records.
Northwell Health had provided the hospital with milions of dollars to increase lab testing, including the ability to do higher-quality rapid tests with more sensitivity.
He also said the hospital is well stocked with personal protective equipment, stockpiles of the drugs that are used to treat Covid-19 patients, including dexamethasone and remdesivir, expanded bed availability and oxygen masks, which according to the National Institutes of Health are more effective than oxygen masks.
Specially trained proning teams, which put patients in a facedown position for several hours a day to improve breathing, are in place at the hospital, which has also invested in more observation of community health data to spot outbreaks.