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00:00Take us inside your hospital system what are you seeing when it comes to Omar KRON and Covid. We feel we peaked about a week ago. It's pretty flat right now but we're still seeing a fair number of infections per day. Fortunately for us despite the fact that we've had more than the last surge in the Windsor with Delta virus last year less patients requiring ICU care and less patients requiring ventilator care. About 50 percent of our patients are unvaccinated and 50 percent are vaccinated. Almost all of them double vaccinated as opposed to getting the booster. And it's the elderly immunocompromised an unvaccinated that comprise the the ICU use in our system. So getting boosted is a big help. So again we should not guarantee but it's likely to keep you out of the hospital of the people who are coming to the hospital. How many of those people are coming in for Covid and how many are coming in for something else. And then you test them. You find out they have Covid that's switch that that berries over time a few weeks ago was about 50 percent with Covid 50 percent for Covid. Now it's pretty much people coming in for Covid it's about 80 20. And last year during the delta surge it was 90 percent for Covid 10 percent with Covid. So it's fluctuated. So look this is a very very infectious variant. It's ubiquitous. A lot of people are getting it. I am sure that the positivity rate is higher because a lot of people are reporting it. A lot of people don't have access to testing. So we need to be very careful. And that's why the government handed out the ninety five masks which are protective at a New York Presbyterian. Is it changing what you can do in this sense. Are you having to forego some elective surgery some other things you would be doing because of the demands from Covid. If we could delay something appropriately yes. We've delayed that means shut down about 25 to 30 percent of our operating room capacity to make the capacity for Covid. But there are a lot of cases coming in that are quote unquote elective that really need to be done whether it's a hard case whether it's a neurosurgical case whether it's a cancer case. So we have been able thank God to be able to deliver the care required by the community as well as the Covid here. But if you had an elective knee surgery operation or you're a young person who needs a hip replacement can wait. We've asked people to wait. Give us a sense of what it's doing with your staff. I know it's been an enormous burden on hospitals like yours. How your doctors how your nurses your other health care professionals how are they holding up. They're holding up well. But look this is the third surge. People would have hoped that we were over in the after surge 1 and then surge 2 last winter. And with the vaccine I think people were really really hoping that this wouldn't happen. So you have that. That being said everyone is really booked up and done a tremendous job. But you have to remember you've had the great resignation as you've reported on David. You have a lot of people leaving health care. You know a lot of people have gotten sick with this variant. So we have really struggled with staffing trying to hire traveling nurses outside nurses. We are recruiting at a breakneck pace to get new graduate nurses and others into into the institution. So it's been a big strain on the staff. It seems at this point can you have any sense of whether this might have longer term repercussions for your ability to attract and retain some of the health care professionals you need. I don't think so. I think that people really do want to go into health care. I think that they understand the importance of it to understand how much the health care system has really helped the country get through this. I think we've gone through that wave of the resignation. I think people really do want to go into health care. I don't think it'll be a long term effect. But boy oh boy it's been tough over the past couple years. And you know I don't want to I don't want to cry crocodile tears. It's been really really tough on the frontline staff. You warned us that there could well be another wave. There could be a variant. I'm not sure we were fully prepared for it. Maybe even at the governmental level we were properly prepared. Let's assume for the moment. There's another one after this. We don't know that there will be. But I don't think we can rule it out. What should we be doing right now to prepare for the next wave. You and I have spoken about this. And you have to take it just in case mentality as opposed to just in time. We purchased an entirely new warehouse right during the first wave in 2020. So we have adequate supplies and PPE. We have adequate supplies of of just about everything with the exception of some of these supply chain shortages that you see throughout the rest of the economy. But testing is really important. Getting the test out to Americans is important. The masks are important. Making sure that that we are continuing to discuss with the pharmaceutical companies another vaccine or a booster for them for the next variant. We don't know that. We can't predict what's going to happen. But assuming the worst. Usually I'm hoping for the best is probably a better strategy than waiting to react to a problem. I think it's a testing problem really exacerbated this to be honest. Well let's pursue that specifically because the government right now is in the process of mailing out a lot of free tests around the country. I don't know that we were fully prepared for this. What should the government because I'm not sure that New York Presbyterian can take on this problem for New York but by what's the government doing in turn in terms of stockpiling for the next one these rapid tests. Well they should. I don't know the answer. The short answer is I don't know what to do with the stockpile. But they asked my wife and I went on the Web site yesterday it's very easy to order tests. And I think the government purchasing more and more of these tests is going to be critically important. Look the antigen tests are not the be all end all but it helps it helps to know if you're positive. And although we had the debates around the country around SC and then ninety five mask is pretty darn protective and see that in the institution when our staff happy in ninety five masks on and they have their visors on. They're not getting infected in the hospital they're getting infected and it's immunity. So we know that these best serve the stockpile the masks stockpile the US stockpile the tests make sure we have it adding the stockpile of ventilators. God forbid we have another serious variant. Make sure that the strategic stockpile is really well equipped to deal with the next pandemic. There will be another pandemic when he knows. Will there be another wave to Covid. I don't know but I wouldn't bet against it.

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Covid-19 Has Peaked, Says NY-Presbyterian CEO

Dr. Steven Corwin, CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, says the Covid-19 wave has slowed down in the city. He talks about how the hospital is handling the pandemic. He's on "Balance of Power." (Source: Bloomberg)

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