It Started With A Purpose And Continues With A Passion: Celebration of Collaboration
The unexpected outbreak of COVID-19 has affected everyone, including all of us. The safety of our patients and staff has been our foremost priority, and by mid-March, all non-essential surgeries had been canceled throughout the UPMC system, including total joint replacements. Moreover, statewide stay at home orders resulted in a significant reduction in patients coming to the office. Consequently, our office, clinical, and surgical staff unexpectedly had additional time on their hands.
Fortunately, we are now fully open for business both in scheduling surgery and seeing patients in the office. It is very safe at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital and the Bone and Joint Center.
During the shutdown, however, and with the support of UPMC leadership, rather than furlough staff, we decided to be creative in our response — to innovate. While allowing all staff to work from home, we asked them to take a fresh look at ideas, dreams, or gaps they had identified for improving patient care and experiences at the Bone and Joint Center. We encouraged them to create new projects or dust off old ideas that never got off the ground for lack of time and remotely collaborate with one another to reimagine care in order to provide you with the best outcomes and experiences. We started a program called “JOINT Projects” and put together collaborative teams.
This special edition report celebrates the spirit of collaboration and positivity fostered by our staff, care providers, and partners at UPMC during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope you’ll enjoy learning about the many ways we came together while apart, to make improvements to our already special program at the Bone and Joint Center. As you will read, most of the projects were centered around you and your care! We were also looking ahead by developing new telemedicine and education platforms for the future.
We invite you to share your feedback and ask questions about some of the projects that catch your interest in the subsequent pages of this report. We’d also like to recognize and thank the entire Bone and Joint Center staff, inpatient unit and rehabilitation staff, members of the UPMC Innovation Center, and our partners at goShadow and the AMD3 Foundation who worked together over these last few months. Their collaboration and the resulting projects are to be celebrated during these trying times. This Celebration of Collaboration Report shows us again that our exceptional team provides exceptional care
Most of all, you are our driving force, and we remain committed to providing you with the safest, best experiences, and outcomes on your journey towards renewed mobility.