It's hard to predict how to best respond to a crisis, but experience helps.
With enough time, it becomes easier to see which decisions were good ones, and what could have been done better. Theresa Fawvor, Associate Vice President of Behavioral Health Services at Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, spoke with Becker's about lessons she and her organization learned for the next pandemic.
Editor's note: This response was lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What have you learned that you'll put to use in the next pandemic?
Theresa Fawvor: One step we took was Code Lilac, a multidisciplinary peer-to-peer support team designed to offer emotional support to workforce members who have experienced stressful patient- or work-related events.
The more than 500 Code Lilac volunteer peer responders represent many disciplines within Memorial Hermann Health System and are trained in psychological first aid to provide compassionate, nonjudgmental, non-punitive and confidential support. In addition to onsite support provided by peer responders, there is a 24/7 Code Lilac hotline accessible to everyone in the Memorial Hermann workforce.
We partnered with the caregiving support service Wellthy, which provides all 32,000 employees of Memorial Hermann with access to caregiving services as they balance patient responsibilities and work obligations with support for loved ones. I have heard nothing but positive things from our workforce about how these programs have helped them.
We learned so much about our teams, community partners, patients and each other during one of the most trying times in health care. We were able to have honest conversations that led to innovative solutions, which are now a part of our clinical operations and the way we support our workforce. This has been a benefit to everyone.