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?:abstract
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Purpose: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) forced radiation oncology clinics to overhaul operational policies, but the effect on employee safety has not, to our knowledge, been reported The New York Proton Center (NYPC), a large freestanding clinic in New York City, New York, presents a 1-month experience of employee-reported health outcomes after the infiltration of COVID-19 and enforcement of policies designed to mitigate its impact Materials and Methods: In March 2020, new operational policies were implemented, including rigorous and frequent sanitation, visitor and treatment restrictions, distribution of personal protective equipment, work-from-home orders, and isolated nursing and radiation therapy teams Employees of NYPC were prospectively monitored for exposure and symptoms of COVID-19 Work hours lost because of illness or quarantines were quantified from March 1, 2020, to March 31, 2020 Results: Among 95 total employees, 23 (24%) were quarantined because of symptoms (n = 15;65%), high-risk exposure (n = 5;22%), or self-quarantined with personal concern (n = 3;13%) Of 44 full-time, on-site employees, 39% (n = 17, including 6 therapists and 5 nurses) missed significant work time, including 6 (14%) with confirmed COVID-19 At full capacity, NYPC would have used 7260 work hours during March 2020 from the full-time, on-site staff, which was reduced by 18 8% overall (25 2% of nursing and 13 3% of therapy work hours), all in the latter half of the month Among the therapist lost work hours, 92% were from 2 of 7 distinct, isolated therapy teams (29%) Without isolation, the exposure was modeled to have been 100% Conclusion: Despite losing significant staff hours in our department because of COVID-19, early and aggressive adoption of current, recommended policy guidelines outlined in this manuscript allowed NYPC to continue patient operations at full capacity
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