We were all in this together
The COVID-19 anxiety level had already begun steadily rising at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens when Dr. Arvind Badhey began his first day as Chief Resident of Otolaryngology on March 15, 2020. The Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery had halted all non-urgent and elective cases and transferred the majority of appointments to telehealth. Because of this, administrators asked for volunteers to assist the COVID-19 effort in the Emergency Room and Intensive Care Unit. Knowing family members and friends working with COVID-19 patients in ICU’s across New York City hospitals, Dr. Badhey was eager to volunteer on the front lines. A surgical recovery room transformed into an ICU would become the first ENT/Otolaryngology-run COVID-19 ICU in the nation - and his professional post for the next 40 days.
Initiating and Operating the Elmhurst Hospital ENT COVID-19 ICU
Dr. Badhey asked his fellow residents to volunteer in the newly formed ENT-operated COVID-19 ICU. Shortly after, he relayed to Elmhurst Hospital administrators that he had eight enthusiastic residents who volunteered. This team grew to 11 and three additional substitutes, thanks to the encouragement of Dr. Marita Teng, Residency Program Director, and Dr. Eric Genden, Chair of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the Mount Sinai Health System. Members included Drs. Arvind Badhey PGY 5, Benny Laitman PGY 2, Usmaan Basharat PGY 1, Jaclyn Klimczak PGY 4, Eli Kinberg PGY 3, Kevin Wong PGY 2, Peter Filip PGY 3, Caleb Fan PGY 3, Doug Worral PGY 5, Noel Phan PGY 2, Christine Barron PGY 1 and substitutes Josh Zeiger PGY 2, Shirley Hu PGY 4 and Andrey Filimonov PGY 3.
The ICU unit was covered 24/7 by four teams of three residents rotating around the clock, guided by attending physicians in critical care and anesthesia who were overseeing multiple units. The resident team became primary caregivers for the 7-bed unit of critically ill COVID patients, and as momentum built, more ENT attending physicians also joined the unit. “The naturally existing trust amongst our ENT team is a huge part of what made this work,” recalls Dr. Badhey.
Most of these patients presented to the Emergency Room and required critical care management. The hospital needed more providers who understood clinical differences of a patient who was stable and a patient who would worsen. For otolaryngologists who address respiratory distress on a regular basis, this was a natural role. Grateful for the dedicated team, Elmhurst Hospital demonstrated superior support, enlisting other disciplines to assist. In addition to the anesthesiologists and critical care physicians, other experts who collaborated with Mount Sinai’s otolaryngologists included pulmonologists, general surgeons, nephrologists, ER physicians, infectious disease specialists, general medicine residents, nurses and nurse practitioners. “We were much respected due to our highly functioning and dynamic team,” Dr. Badhey added. “And all of us made clinical decisions together.”