How One NYC Hospital Handled the Covid-19 Pandemic- The Chief Residents’ Perspective

In March of 2020, life as we knew it changed in a series of seemingly insurmountable challenges. The inpatient medicine ward of New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital (NYPBMH), a large Weill Cornell Medicine university hospital located in Park Slope, New York, is a high volume and high acuity institution. On March 5th, 2020, the hospital confirmed its first case of Covid-19 pneumonia. From that day on, the number of Covid-19 hospitalizations grew exponentially, and by mid-April, the hospital peaked at 403 admitted positive patients with nearly 110 on mechanical ventilation. We completed 356 COVID swabs in March with 207 positive results, a 58% positivity rate. In April, we completed 468 swabs with 232 positive results, a 49% positivity rate. This number fell to 10% in May as individuals isolated.