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  • COVID-19

    COVID-19 Less Common in California Hospital Staff than Community, Study Finds

    Antibody testing at Orange County, Calif.-based Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian found fewer employees had contracted COVID-19 than the surrounding community, which may be due in part to the hospital’s rigorous infection control precautions, according to a study published in the medial preprint server Medrxiv. The hospital tested more than 3,000 hospital employees and independent medical … Read More

  • COVID-19

    Health Care Workers May be less, Not More, Susceptible to Coronavirus, Study Suggests

    Health care workers may be less susceptible to COVID-19 infection than people in the communities they serve, according to surprising early data from an ongoing study at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian. Of some 3,000 workers tested in May and June, only 1% had antibodies to the novel coronavirus in their blood, despite the fact that … Read More

  • COVID-19

    Hoag ER Doc Shares Pandemic Losses, Gains, and Warnings

    In January, when he first heard about the coronavirus, Dr. Eric Alcouloumre was not particularly worried. Having worked at Hoag Hospital since 1986 and currently serving as its associate director of emergency services, he thought, “We got this. We controlled SARS. We controlled Ebola. No problem.” The 27-year Laguna Beach resident and his wife, attorney … Read More

  • COVID-19

    Hospital Chaplains Fill Role of Surrogate Family Members During Times of Isolation, Depression, Death

    “Can you tell my wife I love her?” It isn’t often that Rabbi Jason Weiner, hospital chaplain and director of spiritual care at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, gets a request like that. It came from an elderly man whose wife had been hospitalized. He couldn’t visit her because of strict guidelines in place to curb … Read More

  • COVID-19

    Newport Beach Hospital Calling for Plasma Donations To Help Coronavirus Patients

    Hospital officials at Hoag Memorial Hospital are calling for patients who have recovered from coronavirus to donate plasma so the antibodies could be used to help current patients recover. Plasma donations helped Ebola patients recover and so Hoag Memorial Hospital Dr. Arell Shapiro, who is in charge of transfusions and lab medicine at the hospital, … Read More

  • COVID-19

    As COVID-19 Case Counts Rise, Masks or Face Coverings Become More Important than Ever

    The July 4th weekend presents unique challenges in the fight against COVID-19, and I am writing to thank the community in advance for making the healthy and safe choices that can help us all turn the tide on this pandemic. So many communities in Orange County have gotten creative and modified July 4th celebrations, from … Read More

  • COVID-19

    Southern California Hospitals Gearing up for Surge in Coronavirus Cases

    Large hospital systems in Southern California are preparing to create more space for coronavirus patients as cases continue to surge in the region and across the state. One ER physician said hospital CEOs “are getting anxious” about the capacity of their facilities to handle the influx, and some are developing staged plans to ensure they … Read More

  • COVID-19

    Coping with Stress, Uncertainty, and Anxiety During a Pandemic

    With re-openings underway, how do we mentally cope with a normal that is in transition? COVID-19 and recent societal stressors have created a deep uncertainty about our future. As a psychiatrist, I never hospitalized as many patients or seen this level of anxiety and depression in the community as I have seen these past few … Read More

  • COVID-19

    The Most Contagious Feeling is Hope

    A Zoom background caught my eye. It was a photo of my patient, sitting on a boat in what looked like pristine water. “Is that a real picture?” I asked during a recent telehealth video visit. “Yes,” my patient said, and he launched into a story about how he had lived on St. Thomas in … Read More