SUMMIT, NJ – APRIL 16, 2021 – Overlook Medical Center, part of Atlantic Health System, this week discharged its 2,000th inpatient treated for COVID-19 back to recovery, marking a significant milestone after more than a year of the global pandemic.
For Overlook officials, the discharge, which occurred on Tuesday, April 13, helped to highlight the hospital’s journey throughout the pandemic, and its success in providing care and safety to its patients throughout the event.
“Helping thousands of people survive this terrible virus and return to their lives, their homes, their families and loved ones has been our greatest honor,” said Alan Lieber, president of Overlook Medical Center. “This important milestone is a moment to reflect on the experiences of this pandemic, and how they have better positioned us to care for our communities going forward.”
Just one year ago, as the pandemic climbed toward its first, and most severe peak, Overlook Medical Center was predominantly where patients in Union County and the surrounding region sought care. Overlook’s proximity to New York City and Newark, combined with a reputation for excellence, were clearly factors in the overwhelming number of patients seeking care at Overlook.
During the height of the pandemic in Spring 2020, Overlook cared for an average of more than 300 COVID patients each day, with more than 100 requiring intensive care. On average, Overlook was admitting 35 patients a day.
Overlook was able to transform the hospital in a matter of days, tripling its intensive care capacity to keep ahead of increasing admissions. Patient rooms were modified with medical gases, air filtration technology that reduces airborne viruses, and state-of-the-art monitoring and visualization that enabled remote monitoring to reduce staff exposure to COVID and more. Overlook used its 3-D printer to create solutions to emergent challenges that arose.
Overlook’s doctors, nurses and other providers adapted patient care to include added precautions, heightened applications for methods like proning and positioning, and implemented newly developed therapies such as Remdesivir.
For a time, many roles blurred as Overlook team members rolled up their sleeves to do what was needed – from surgeons, cardiologists and hospitalists working twelve-hour shifts supporting intensivists in the ICUs, to non-clinical staff serving as temperature takers and in other supportive roles. Every patient, COVID-positive or otherwise, was treated safely and with the utmost care.
As New Jersey shifted into recovery in the summer, Overlook enacted a number of safety measures to continue to ensure a safe environment for all patients.
With great forethought, Overlook used the summer months to prepare for the anticipated Fall and Winter waves of COVID-19 resurgence. Using space that will become a new inpatient specialty unit as part of the hospital’s ongoing expansion and enhancement project, in the Fall Overlook opened 7 East, a specially-designed standalone unit to care for COVID-positive patients. The unit is intended to be temporary while the State of New Jersey has declared a health emergency.
This “super-unit” – able to provide acute, intermediate and critical care – features rooms outfitted with custom windows equipped with HEPA filtration.
Incorporating all of the feedback from the care delivery team, the unit was designed to facilitate better patient monitoring and reduce exposure for staff caring for COVID-positive patients. Overlook installed large windows in patient room doors and walls, and added audio/video communication and other technological innovations to allow care team members to monitor patients without going into and out of rooms as well as enabling clear communication between those in the room and those outside.
In January 2021, Overlook created dedicated space within its emergency departments in Summit and Union, to provide monoclonal antibody treatment for patients who were referred by their primary care physicians. This remarkable therapy is used to treat patients with mild to moderate symptoms by infusing antibodies to help the patient’s immune system fight the virus in order to prevent them from needing hospitalization.
The milestone discharge comes just days after Overlook marked the 25,000th dose of COVID-19 vaccine administered at the Summit Community Center, where Overlook has been operating a vaccination center, in partnership with its host community, the City of Summit, since early February. Overlook transformed a gymnasium at the community center to house 14 socially-distanced vaccination bays, operating Monday through Saturday by appointment.
About Atlantic Health System
Atlantic Health System is at the forefront of medicine, setting standards for quality health care in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the New York metropolitan area. Powered by a workforce of almost 17,000 team members and 4,800 affiliated physicians dedicated to building healthier communities, Atlantic Health System serves more than half of the state of New Jersey including 11 counties and 4.9 million people. The system offers more than 400 sites of care, including seven hospitals: Morristown Medical Center in Morristown, NJ, Overlook Medical Center in Summit, NJ, Newton Medical Center in Newton NJ, Chilton Medical Center in Pompton Plains, NJ, Hackettstown Medical Center in Hackettstown, NJ, Goryeb Children’s Hospital in Morristown, NJ, and Atlantic Rehabilitation Institute in Madison, NJ.
Atlantic Medical Group, comprised of 1,000 physicians and advanced practice providers, represents one of the largest multi-specialty practices in New Jersey and joins Atlantic Accountable Care Organization and Optimus Healthcare Partners as part of Atlantic Alliance, a Clinically Integrated Network of more than 2,500 health care providers throughout northern and central NJ.
Atlantic Health System provides care for the full continuum of health care needs through 16 urgent care centers, Atlantic Visiting Nurse and Atlantic Anywhere’s Virtual Visits. Facilitating the connection between these services on both land and air is the transportation fleet of Atlantic Mobile Health.
Atlantic Health System leads the Healthcare Transformation Consortium, a partnership of seven regional hospitals and health systems dedicated to improving access and affordability and is a founding member of the PIER Consortium – Partners in Innovation, Education, and Research – a streamlined clinical trial system that will expand access to groundbreaking research across seven health systems in New Jersey.
Atlantic Health System has a medical school affiliation with Thomas Jefferson University and is home to the regional campus of the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Morristown and Overlook Medical Centers and is the official health care partner of the New York Jets.