Pandemic Care Through Collaboration: Sharing Lessons from a COVID-19 Police Field Hospital

Abstract

: In the summer of two years ago in 2021, the prevalence of COVID-19 increased sharply in one of the less privileged provinces. As a result, the number of beds and treatment departments in hospitals, and more importantly, the number of medical specialists in that province, did not meet the existing needs. For this reason, the military healthcare workers decided to come to the aid of that province, considering the organizational mission of the police force. According to the memorandum, the Police Organization, the Governor, and the University of Medical Sciences from that province collaborated to establish a 64-bed field hospital for patients with COVID-19, with two separate wards for male and female patients. The COVID-19 Police Field Hospital provided care for more than a thousand patients over 8 weeks from July 12 to August 31, 2021. In this report, we describe our implementation strategy, including organizational structure, acceptance criteria, and clinical services. Additionally, dynamic workflows require clear lines of relationship, clinical operations expertise, and engaged, interested, and people-friendly healthcare workers.