Shout-out to the Incredible HICS team!

As the COVID Emergency ends, we give a heartfelt deep appreciation to our Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) team who was formally activated on March 5, 2020 – the day the first two COVID patients were identified in San Francisco.

HICS met daily in person in the7th floor conference room of Building 25 until the Omicron variant emerged in June 2022. Like the rest of the world, the team adapted and continued their daily 9:40 a.m. meetings on Microsoft Teams.

With regulations constantly changing, new information being shared daily and a ton of ambiguity surrounding the virus – this team of over 70 healthcare professionals here at ZSFG came together daily to monitor infection rates and regulations, respond to safety protocols and questions that everyone wanted answer to, and to continue providing compassionate care to all – as everyone attempted to understand what was happening in the world.

As the Federal Public Health Emergency officially ends today, May 11, 2023 – HICS has been deactivated.

A special “thank you” to Nurse Director of Clinical Operations, Jeffrey Schmidt, RN, who led with empathy and humility as the Incident Commander from the on-set of the activation 3 years ago.

We thank the entire HICS team for their leadership and guidance – keeping patients, staff and San Francisco safe. You are appreciated. Thank you.