The PUMCH Winter Olympics Ward is the hospital’s designated ward for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics, which is well-situated, meticulously constructed and equipped with the facilities for “three zones and two passages” (work zone, quarantine zone and buffer zone, and passage for staff and passage for quarantined patients). A year ago, on December 24, the PUMCH Winter Olympics Ward was put into operation. It assembled top-performing PUMCHers, who demonstrated PUMCH’s advanced and compassionate care to the whole world. Now, in the wake of the about-face in COVID control policies, the hospital’s focus shifted to the prevention of critical conditions and deaths. In light of this, the hospital decided to repurpose the Winter Olympics Ward into the interim ward for COVID patient quarantine. The excellent talents from multiple departments once again were brought together for this. Despite the difficulties and challenges, they learn from experience and get better at their job, all with the shared purpose of helping patients recover and be discharged at an earlier date.

The hospital fully tapped the experience of the medical team that aided Hubei shortly after the COVID outbreak, the nuclear acid testing team, and the medical team at the makeshift hospitals to make overall arrangements concerning the work coordination mechanism, human resource planning and medical operation process of the ward. Although the Winter Olympics Ward was staffed by healthcare workers assigned on short notice, it still adopted the three-tier ward round system, under which Du Bin, the vice president of PUMCH in charge of healthcare, offered to be the ward round professor, conducting the ward round daily and providing specific guidance and opinions on medical services to patients. Three additional healthcare workers were added to meet work demand, sending the total number of the first batch of healthcare workers at the ward to reach 27, twelve of whom once aided Hubei shortly after the COVID outbreak.  

The first batch of medical staff worked in the Winter Olympics Ward for three weeks and admitted 41 patients in total. They ensured that COVID patients with underlying conditions or high risk factors for critical conditions could be speedily quarantined and timely treated, thus buying urgently needed time for the hospital to dynamically adjust its response strategy.  

On the afternoon of December 8, nine patients were admitted to the Winter Olympics Ward, adding to the clinical workload. Just then the list of the second batch of healthcare workers was finalized. Many of them, upon receiving the notification, rushed to the ward and offered to start working two days ahead of the scheduled handover.

On December 10, the day of handover between the two batches, 53 medical and nursing personnel were officially put on duty, including Du Wei and Zhao Hua, associate professors of the Department of Intensive Care Unit, Zhao Xia, head nurse of the geriatric demonstration ward, and Liu Dan from general ward No. 2 of International Medical Service of West Campus. With strength in both intensive care and geriatrics, the second batch is in a particularly strong position to care for elderly COVID patients in critical conditions, who need extra care and attention, effectively alleviating pressure on the fever clinic and emergency care.  

Together, we can overcome any challenge. As infections peaked on December 12 in Beijing, many medical personnel were also infected and the number of staff members available for work kept shrinking. Under the severe manpower strain, the hospital prioritized the need of the Winter Olympics Ward and assigned another six healthcare workers to it. The team there stuck to their post unless they were in critical conditions. Despite the heavy pressure on their physical and psychological state, they did their utmost for people’s health.

In the Winter Olympics Ward at this point, the median age of patients is 74 and the oldest patient is 96 years old. Under the efficient and coordinated mechanism that links the Winter Olympics Ward and the Department of Emergency with other care units in the hospital, the whole medical staff work vigorously and earnestly fulfill their responsibilities to build a staunch line of defense that protects people’s life.

Medical personnel were taking care of a patient

Written by Fu Tanpin and Chen Mingyan

Photographed by Du Yufu

Translated by Liu Haiyan

Edited by Wang Yao