TABLE.

Summary of University of Miami Department of Neurosurgery COVID-19 Pandemic Preparedness Measures

Departmental priority	Key measure taken
Surgical scheduling	• All elective surgeries canceled
	• All emergent surgeries are scheduled
	• Multidisciplinary physician panel determines which surgeries are urgent enough to schedule
Clinic scheduling	• Elective clinic visits canceled
	• HIPPA-compliant telehealth visits for follow-up visits
	• Pre-screened patients likely to require urgent surgery are scheduled
Conferences and resident education	• All in-person conferences canceled
	• Video teleconferences are effective and facilitate social distancing
Resident safety	• Minimal resident coverage
	• Designated a healthy “off shift” group to stay home, unless the active “first responder” group becomes sick
	• PPE for residents including N95 masks
Attending safety	• Re-organized call schedules so that 1 provider covers multiple hospitals and sub-specialties with appropriate at home 2nd and 3rd call back-up
	• No attending over the age of 60 is on the call schedule as this represents as higher risk group for symptomatic COVID-19 infection and mortality
Administrative staff	• 100% remote home working
Intensive care unit	• Routed positively screened COVID-19 patients to an ICU setting that is physically separated from the neurosciences ICU
	• Postoperative care for uncomplicated craniotomies and endoscopic endonasal cases in stepdown unit rather than ICU
	• Emphasize discharge home on postoperative day 1