Blakey Gregory L, McCloskey Cindy B, Guthridge Joel M, Williams Christopher L, Lu Rufei, Hayes Jon T, Pinkston Kendal G, Talbert Michael L
Department of Pathology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
Acad Pathol. 2021 Aug 23;8:23742895211037029. doi: 10.1177/23742895211037029. eCollection 2021 Jan-Dec.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused much suffering through disease and death, disruption of daily life, and economic havoc. Global health infrastructure has been challenged, in some cases failing. In the United States, the inability of laboratories to provide adequate testing for the causative pathogen, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, has been the subject of negative press and national debate. Even so, these challenges have prompted pathology practices and clinical labs to change their organizations and operations for the better. The natural positive evolution of the University of Oklahoma Department of Pathology and OU Health Laboratories has been greatly accelerated by the global pandemic. While developing a substantial COVID testing response, our department of pathology and laboratories have evolved a much nimbler organizational structure, established an important research partnership, built a translational research resource, created a significant reference lab capability, and completed many key hires against a national background of hiring freezes and pay cuts. Also, the high visibility of the clinical lab and pathologists during the outbreak has reinforced the value of lab medicine to patient care across our health system. In the midst of significant ongoing changes to the structure and financing of our underlying organizations, high trust among departmental, hospital, health system, and medical school leadership during the pandemic has promoted these positive changes, allowing us to emerge much stronger from this crisis.
新冠疫情通过疾病与死亡、扰乱日常生活以及造成经济破坏，带来了诸多痛苦。全球卫生基础设施受到挑战，在某些情况下甚至不堪重负。在美国，实验室无法对致病病原体——严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2进行充分检测，这成为负面新闻和全国性辩论的焦点。即便如此，这些挑战促使病理业务和临床实验室改进其组织架构与运营方式。俄克拉荷马大学病理学系和俄克拉荷马大学健康实验室的自然积极发展因这场全球大流行而大大加速。在制定大规模新冠病毒检测应对措施的同时，我们的病理学系和实验室形成了更为灵活的组织结构，建立了重要的研究伙伴关系，打造了一个转化研究资源库，具备了强大的参考实验室能力，并在全国范围内招聘冻结和减薪的背景下完成了多项关键岗位的人员招聘。此外，临床实验室和病理学家在疫情期间的高关注度强化了检验医学在我们整个医疗系统中对患者护理的价值。在我们基础组织的结构和资金方面持续发生重大变化之际，疫情期间部门、医院、医疗系统和医学院领导层之间的高度信任推动了这些积极变革，使我们能够从这场危机中更加强劲地崛起。
