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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA — America’s Essential Hospitals, a national trade association, has recognized LAC+USC Medical Center for its innovative Home Oxygen program for patients with COVID-19. The program enabled over 1600 patients to receive supportive care safely in the comfort of their homes, and it enabled LAC+USC Medical Center to optimize access to acute care services for all patients throughout the pandemic. This program was crucial to improving patient care for our vulnerable patients, and maintaining critically needed patient care access at a time when LA was the epicenter of the COVID pandemic in the US.
America's Essential Hospitals, which represents more than 300 hospitals that care for low-income and other marginalized people, recognized LAC+USC Medical Center with a 2021 Gage Award for COVID-19 Innovations. The association presented the award June 24 at its virtual annual conference. This innovation category award highlights innovative practices, projects, and programs related to the coronavirus pandemic and captures creative solutions for the current or potential future pandemics within the hospital or in its community.
“The COVID-19 pandemic and acts of racial injustice that have marked the past year magnified the role of our hospitals as healing forces in their communities, both inside and outside the hospital walls,” said America’s Essential Hospitals President and CEO Bruce Siegel, MD, MPH. “We are proud to recognize LAC+USC Medical Center and our other awardees for their continued efforts to innovate with limited resources and during challenging times.”
The Gage Awards, named after association founder Larry Gage, honor, and share successful and creative member hospital programs that improve patient care and meet community needs. Gage Awards in the COVID-19 Innovations category highlight innovative practices, projects, and programs related to the coronavirus pandemic. This temporary category captures creative solutions for the current or potential future pandemics within the hospital or in its community.
Supportive care for COVID-19 pneumonia frequently requires supplemental oxygen, and in most systems patients must remain in the hospital to receive this care. But with the LAC+USC program, patients with COVID-19 pneumonia are able to receive oxygen support at home, under the care of a phone support team of nurses and doctors. The team ensures patients’ safety by calling them within 12-18 hours of leaving the medical center, and by continuing regular phone calls until no longer necessary. If a patient’s condition happens to worsen, the team directs patient swiftly to the emergency room, where acute care specialists then take over care.
Analysis of the program revealed impressive safety outcomes [*JAMA article link: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2778078], and the patient-centered approach was warmly received by patients and families. With over 1600 patients served in one year, the program helped LAC+USC Medical Center provide excellent care for patients with COVID-19 and optimize precious access to acute care services for all patients throughout the pandemic.
“This cutting-edge program proved that Safety Net hospitals can not only be innovative and create first-in-nation models of care, but that we are very creative in maximizing care for our vulnerable patients. Without this program, we would have run out of beds in the hospital during the worst of the COVID pandemic. With it, patients got care that models the National Academy of Medicine’s Aim of High Value Care: right care, provided in the right place, at the right time.” said LAC+USC Medical Center's Chief Medical Officer, Brad Spellberg.
“LAC+USC continuously works to improve quality healthcare for our community, the COVID pandemic only demonstrated the resiliency and innovative thinking of our staff,” said LAC+USC Medical Center's CEO Jorge Orozco.
About LAC+USC Medical Center
LAC+USC Medical Center, one of the largest public hospitals in the country is a 600-bed, Level One Trauma Center and an academic teaching hospital run by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS). Through its affiliations with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) and the Los Angeles County College of Nursing and Allied Health, it is one of the premier academic teaching hospitals in the nation and one of the state’s leading hospitals for training health professionals. LAC+USC operates special units that serve patients across the Southern California region, including a Burn Center, Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and Psychiatric and Pediatric Emergency Rooms. LAC+USC is home to the Rand Schrader HIV/AIDS Clinic, the Violence Intervention Program (VIP) offering medical, mental health, protective, and social services to over 20,000 victims of family violence and sexual assault each year, and a renowned medical clinic for children at risk for or already in foster care.
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