COVER STORY
FIGHTING BACK :
Health Centers Doing Their Part to Combat the Coronavirus
In March , dental offices and health centers around the country were forced to close or limit services to only treat urgent and emergency cases . In the last six months , dentists nationwide have proven it is safe to treat patients — all patients — by taking every available precaution .
While some of the stories to follow are similar , it is important to note that NYU Langone Dental Medicine affiliate health centers are located in 27 US States , Puerto Rico , and the US Virgin Islands . Many regions felt the impact of COVID at different times and each training site had to make their own decisions based on local , state , and national guidelines .
With limited services or the closing of health centers , many of our residents were pulled from their clinics . Our healthcare affiliates highlighted here remained open during the first wave of the pandemic and residents , faculty , and staff worked to provide critical care during a national crisis .
PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT ( PPE ) INCLUDING A FACE SHIELD IS WORN BY CURRENT RESIDENT , DR . ETHAN LEONARD .
THE FOUNDRY DENTAL CENTER in BESSEMER , AL
Dr . Michael McCracken , Dental Director
NEW YORK CITY became an epicenter with 5 % of the world ’ s cases two weeks after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic . 1 Soon after , people across the country began to see the swift , dramatic impact of the virus and the need for health care workers to step up . Dr . Michael McCracken felt the need in his health center in Alabama . He felt they had a role to play and a duty to serve their patients . The Foundry Dental Center , a safety net dental clinic , remained open to keep patients out of the emergency room and alleviate their pain . With the worldwide pipeline for hospital supplies , specifically PPE , paralyzed , hospitals and health centers needed to use all their resources to manage their supply inventory . Foundry was no exception . Providers were asked to re-use N95 masks and in some cases to wear another mask over the N95 in order to protect it .
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Source : “ GOODBYE , 2019 . HELLO , COVID-19 .” NYU LANGONE HEALTH Magazine , Fall 2020 , p 2
ISSUE 11 JOURNAL 1 NOVEMBER 2020
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