AnnualReport2021

EFFORTS d OUR INTERNATIONAL PATIENTS DURING THE PANDEMIC

T he COVID-19 pandemic and related travel restrictions have significantly impacted both domestic patients seeking care and our international patients, due to border closures. Both our Shriners and our Shriners Hospitals staff have continued to work tirelessly to overcome hurdles to care and ensure that our organization still provides necessary care for kids all over the world. When the COVID-19 pandemic began to disrupt the world in early 2020, the international patient care team at Shriners International Headquarters had only one thought in mind – upholding our mission of providing the highest quality care to kids, regardless of the surrounding circumstances. The world began shutting down and national borders started being locked down as safety precautions against the spread of the dangerous virus. This prevented all international patient travel, caused the cancellation of all non-urgent surgeries and brought the work of our international outreach teams to a screeching halt. The international patient care team put their heads together to come up with new ways of doing things to ensure that our children would still come first: » We immediately informed all of our international patient families of current travel restrictions and provided periodic updates on the status of our international program.

» Every case placed on hold was thoroughly evaluated with our chief nursing officer and chief medical officer to determine urgency and an appropriate time frame for care. » Any updates or changes to the status of our international program were quickly communicated to our Shriners all over the world.

» Telehealth was utilized with many of our established patients for virtual follow-up to ensure continuity of care. The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us one thing: no matter what happens around us, Shriners International and Shriners Hospitals for Children will always put our kids first.

FUN e FELLOWSHIP

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