Johns Hopkins Health System and Howard County General Hospital (HCGH) leaders have announced that the hospital will implement Crisis Standards of Care (CSC) protocols. This is the second hospital in the Hopkins System to implement CSC; on Dec. 29, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center (JHBMC) transitioned to CSC.

Since mid-December, HCGH saw a 411 percent increase in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. JHBMC had seen a 360 percent increase in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 last week.

Johns Hopkins Medicine has worked with the University of Maryland Medical System to standardize the process for activating CSC.

To meet the growing demand for the care and safety of patients with COVID-19 while caring for patients with other medical needs, Hopkins hospitals have already opened additional treatment spaces for patients with COVID-19, rescheduled elective surgical procedures and redeployed staff to ensure that patients with COVID-19 and those dealing with other medical conditions are receiving safe, high-quality care.

Changes under CSC protocols will allow additional flexibility in:

  • Advance different clinical care models
  • Further modify elective surgical schedules
  • Simplify documentation requirements
  • Redeploy clinical and nonclinical staff
  • Improve patient flow through measures such as early discharges, when safe and appropriate