Dr. Melissa Sparrow Discusses What GBMC Is Doing for the Coronavirus

*This is a rapidly changing situation. This video was filmed on March 26, 2020. For the most up-to-date information, visit the CDC website at www.cdc.gov*

In this time of uncertainty, it’s hard to know how to help your children. To answer your questions, WMAR-2 News hosted house calls for members of the public to ask healthcare experts about the current COVID-19 situation. Melissa Marks Sparrow, MD, FAAP, Chief of Staff at GBMC HealthCare, describes how GBMC is responding to the crisis.

GBMC has created a Command Center, which is solely focused on ensuring that our patients and employees remain safe and that we have the capacity to care for patients in this time of need. “There are so many moving parts in the healthcare system,” says Dr. Sparrow, “we have people in the command center dedicated to each of these pieces. I’m incredibly grateful for our employees, who are rising to the occasion and leading at every level of our organization.”

We are using tents outside of the Emergency Department (ED) to triage patients who are showing respiratory symptoms before they enter the building. We are taking this precaution to limit the risk of infected persons entering the ED and contaminating the environment or infecting other people. Most COVID-19 patients will be able to recover at home – this setup allows us to treat them in areas that are separate from other patients and quickly identify those who need additional treatment.

GBMC is also limiting visitors in order to keep patients and staff safe. Click here for our updated visitor policy. It is imperative to keep our employees healthy so that they are available in the case of a surge of severely ill patients.

*Click here for more information about the coronavirus (COVID-19)*