Living in Charleston, we’ve all heard of MUSC. Many of us may be patients there. The Medical University of South Carolina is an institution that is a pillar in our community. But sometimes we forget all there is to MUSC. MUSC has three main pillars: Education, Patient Care and Research and Innovation.

As a university, MUSC has six colleges, 3,000 students and more than four nationally ranked programs. As a hospital system, MUSC has eight hospitals and more than 10 ambulatory facilities, a nationally ranked telehealth program and a statewide virtual urgent care platform. MUSC is also the largest biomedical research institution in the state and an NCI-designated cancer center.

The positive impact MUSC has on our community and state as a whole is unmistakable, but during our statewide response to the coronavirus, that impact has become even more important. On top of being a university, healthcare center, research facility and a main player in the COVID-19 response, we can’t forget that MUSC is also an enterprise – an organization with nearly 17,000 employees that is facing many of the same issues our business community as a whole is dealing with right now.

As we navigate the pandemic, it’s important to keep top of mind the organizations, and individuals, who are on the frontlines of fighting this disease. Caroline Brown, Chief External Affairs Officer for MUSC, offered ways that the community can give back to the healthcare workers on the frontline. She also highlighted the steps that communities will need to take, many of which are currently happening or planned for the near future, in order to get back to a new normal.

Ways you can help

There are a number of ways that the community can help contribute to MUSC’s COVID-19 response. Here are a few ideas:

Make a donation to the MUSC COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund. This helps MUSC with expenses like:

• Additional remote screening sites
• Surgical masks, gowns and other medical supplies
• Funds to help healthcare providers and their families with unforeseen expenses
• Research funding to support the search for new treatments and enhanced testing capabilities

Donate supplies – PPE and other critical supplies like:

• N95 masks
• Surgical masks
• Protective eyewear
• Face shields
• Sterile gloves
• Hand sanitizer
• Industrial cleaning wipes
• Thermometers
• Plastic spray bottles

Provide food – There are multiple ways you can help provide meals to healthcare workers and their families:

• Cater a meal
• Provide food pantry items
• Send grocery gift cards

Give blood – Maintaining the area’s blood supply is critical

• American Red Cross and Blood Connection have donation sites up and running

Continue to stay safe!

• Social distance
• Hand wash frequently
• Self-monitor
• Use virtual screening tools if you develop symptoms (free virtual screening with code COVID19)

The Path Forward

The MUSC COVID-19 Epidemiology Intelligence Project is a new resource that provides leading indicators related to the COVID-19 epidemic to enable informed decisions. Data from this epidemiological project indicates that “thanks in large part to social distancing, there has been a steady decline in the growth rate of new cases.” Additionally, their analyses suggest that the number of current and projected COVID-19 cases can effectively be managed by the area’s health system.

Because of the public health measures that have been taken and preparation that has been done, for the most part, we have braced ourselves for what is coming, and even made an impact in flattening the curve.

MUSC is fully engaged with state and local leaders on developing steps to move forward successfully after taking all the necessary precautions. There are five main things* that MUSC is focusing on as part of their effort to get the community back to a “new normal”:

1. Staged economic revitalization – This pandemic, as the business community is well aware, is both a public health and an economic crisis. It is important to get businesses back to a new normal once it is safe to do so.
2. Diagnostic testing – MUSC is expecting to double their diagnostic testing capacity by the end of this week; they have plenty of tests and urge anyone who has symptoms to get screened and then get tested if it is deemed necessary.
3. Antibody testing – This will give a sense of who has had the disease and recovered from it and help identify people who may have been asymptomatic or had mild symptoms
   • Antibody testing will help understand actual prevalence of COVID-19 in the community
   • It also may begin to indicate whether individuals have some level of immunity
4. Contact tracing – Understanding who someone has come in contact with before diagnosis will help prevent further spread
5. Protecting the vulnerable – MUSC is working to come up with solutions to protect vulnerable populations beyond who we normally think about, such as rural populations who may not have access to virtual screening or a drive through sampling center

*Items two through five represent the measures that will need to be taken before step one can successfully occur.

This webinar was a reminder that even as we begin to think about working towards recovery, we must continue to support those working daily to fight coronavirus and keep our communities safe. To watch the full webinar and learn more about MUSC’s COVID-19 response, click here. For other resources and to view upcoming webinars, visit www.charlestonchamber.org/coronavirus-resources/