TY - JOUR
T1 - The American College of Surgeons Responds to COVID-19
AU - in collaboration with the American College of Surgeons COVID-19 Communications Committee, Board of Regents, and Officers
AU - Rusch, Valerie W.
AU - Wexner, Steven D.
AU - Atala, Anthony
AU - Atkinson, John L.D.
AU - Denneny, James C.
AU - Eberlein, Timothy J.
AU - Elsey, James K.
AU - Farmer, Diana L.
AU - Ford, Henri R.
AU - Fried, Gerald M.
AU - Gigantelli, James W.
AU - Hancock, B. J.
AU - Hernandez, Enrique
AU - Jacobs, Lenworth M.
AU - Levin, L. Scott
AU - Meredith, J. Wayne
AU - Michelassi, Fabrizio
AU - Napolitano, Lena M.
AU - Phillips, Linda G.
AU - Sharp, Kenneth W.
AU - Sidawy, Anton N.
AU - Stain, Steven C.
AU - Sutton, Beth H.
AU - Timmerman, Gary L.
AU - Wood, Douglas E.
AU - Anthony Atala, Atala
N1 - Funding Information:
Like other large organizations across the US during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACS faced the abrupt need to have all staff switch to working from home. With the assistance of the ACS IT (Information Technology) group (led by Brian Harper), a seamless transition to working off-site was accomplished within a week for roughly 400 staff. Daily Incident Command videoconferences that included the Executive Director, senior ACS staff, and the leadership of the Board of Regents and Officers, ensured the smooth continuation of all ACS activities. The Division of Integrated Communications, under a recently appointed new director (Cori Ashford), worked ceaselessly, not only to create all of the COVID-19 Bulletins, but also to support the many other communication needs of the ACS during this crisis. Multiple large ACS meetings scheduled for the spring and summer of 2020 were converted to virtual meetings with the involvement of all ACS Divisions. Careful negotiations by the ACS Conventions and Meetings staff were needed to mitigate potential financial losses related to meeting cancellations. The Chief Financial Officer (Gay Vincent) and the Executive Director worked closely with the Treasurer, Regents, and the outside financial advisory group for the ACS to weather the financial instability brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, to preserve the ACS endowment funds, and to adjust the ACS budget proactively.
PY - 2020/10
Y1 - 2020/10
N2 - The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly, and perhaps irrevocably, changed the way we live, conduct our business affairs, and practice medicine and surgery. In mid-March 2020, as COVID-19 infections escalated exponentially across many areas of the US, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Surgeon General, and the American College of Surgeons (ACS) recommended that hospitals and surgeons postpone non-urgent operations in order to provide care to COVID-19 patients.1-3 It quickly became obvious that the COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented medical challenges. ACS leadership, including the Board of Regents and Officers (Appendix), worked with the ACS Executive Director (Dr David Hoyt) and staff to rapidly organize a response to the COVID-19 crisis. The aim of this effort was to support ACS members and Fellows, as well as the broader medical community, in continuing to provide optimal patient care. Because other similar public health crises could arise in the future, we report the measures taken by the ACS to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
AB - The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly, and perhaps irrevocably, changed the way we live, conduct our business affairs, and practice medicine and surgery. In mid-March 2020, as COVID-19 infections escalated exponentially across many areas of the US, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Surgeon General, and the American College of Surgeons (ACS) recommended that hospitals and surgeons postpone non-urgent operations in order to provide care to COVID-19 patients.1-3 It quickly became obvious that the COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented medical challenges. ACS leadership, including the Board of Regents and Officers (Appendix), worked with the ACS Executive Director (Dr David Hoyt) and staff to rapidly organize a response to the COVID-19 crisis. The aim of this effort was to support ACS members and Fellows, as well as the broader medical community, in continuing to provide optimal patient care. Because other similar public health crises could arise in the future, we report the measures taken by the ACS to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2020.06.020
DO - 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2020.06.020
M3 - Article
C2 - 32673759
AN - SCOPUS:85089752696
VL - 231
SP - 490
EP - 496
JO - Journal of the American College of Surgeons
JF - Journal of the American College of Surgeons
SN - 1072-7515
IS - 4
ER -