The Mayo Clinic also conducted a large
portion of St. Clair Hospital’s COVID-19
tests, particularly during the first months
of the lockdown. St. Clair Hospital has
since built three in-house COVID testing
platforms, but they continue to utilize the
Mayo Clinic reference lab.

“When people ask for examples of the
advantages of partnering with the Mayo
Clinic, I go right to COVID. There is no
greater demonstration of their value,”
said Dr. Sullivan.

St. Clair Hospital’s partnership with
the Mayo Clinic began in 2017, bringing
the Mayo Clinic Care Network to the
Pittsburgh region.

Dr. Sullivan also touts the value of a
new, and perhaps unexpected, partnership
that formed between the major hospital
systems in the region, including UPMC,
Allegheny Health Network, Butler Health
System, Heritage Valley Health System,
Excela Health and Washington Health
System. In March 2020, hospital leaders
put competition aside and began sharing
resources to help control the spread of the
virus in Pittsburgh. These meetings are now
a weekly occurrence, and Dr. Debra Bogen,
Director of the Allegheny County Health
Department, often leads the calls.

“She’s making the tough decisions on
mitigation measures and is under an intense
amount of political and public pressure …
She often reminds us ‘Anything I do will
take three weeks to affect hospital censuses.

If you get overwhelmed, I need to know
sooner rather than later,’” Dr. Sullivan said.

An example of the type of issue covered
in these weekly sessions comes from a
meeting in January 2021, when this story
was written. The issue at hand was, “How
are we going to handle COVID exposures
in staff members who have already been
vaccinated?” Each person developed a plan
individually, and when they brought them
to the table, the answer wound up being
the same across the board: If the person
in question is two weeks post-vaccination,
their risk of infection is low. So as long as
they wear their protective equipment and
watch carefully for symptoms, they can
continue to work.

“There was no precedent, so we relied on
each other,” said Dr. Sullivan. “It’s funny.

We’ve only interacted one time in-person
at a press conference … but these people
have become closer colleagues to me than
anybody. And after nine months of this, I’ve
barely laid eyes on them.”
One of the reasons all the hospitals in the
region have been able to work together so
successfully is because, generally, the virus
“The early
days of this
pandemic was the first
time in several
decades where
health care
workers had to
be concerned
with their
own health."
PPE proves effective in protecting
medical staff from the virus • St.

Clair Hospital enrolls in Mayo
Clinic convalescent plasma trial
• New safety protocols at St. Clair
Hospital are being instituted daily,
and sometimes hourly. • St. Clair
Hospital is averaging 12 patients on
the COVID ward at any given time.

MARCH Early March- St. Clair Hospital begins
planning for the pandemic • March
11- The first two cases are confirmed in
Allegheny County • St. Clair Hospital
pauses nonemergency procedures and
surgeries • Hospital leadership fears
capacity issues and possible shortages
of equipment, testing supply and PPE.

• Leaders of Allegheny County health
care systems begin meeting regularly
to share resources.

24 Mt. Lebanon Magazine | MARCH 2021
APRIL June 5- Stay-at-home orders
lifted as Allegheny County
enters “Green Phase” of virus
mitigation • Leadership
fears patients putting off
routine screenings will lead
to more deaths.

MAY Beginning of May- St. Clair Hospital
is recording no positive cases. •
May 11- Non-emergency procedures
and surgeries at St. Clair Hospital
resume. • May 15- Allegheny
County moves to “Yellow Phase”
of virus mitigation and certain
non-essential businesses begin to
re-open at limited capacity.

JUNE