Nashville COVID-19 Response Review

STRATEGIES FOR FUTURE PREPAREDNESS: EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 IN NASHVILLE

As the nation and world continue to grapple with COVID-19, there is much to learn about how to improve health preparedness.

Through a series of wide-ranging interviews with key leaders and stakeholders, along with extensive research, NashvilleHealth and partners convened a report to review Nashville’s response to the pandemic and importantly offers recommendations to inform and prepare for future emergency response.

 

Nashville is one of the first communities in the nation to do a comprehensive review of lessons learned from Nashville’s health, business and community response to the pandemic. 

 

The report explores 5 key areas of community response and then offers 28 short, medium, and long-term recommendations and action items to be considered by hospitals, community-based organizations, metro government, researchers, non-profits, and business leaders in Nashville for any future public health emergency.

RECOMMENDATIONS

  • Emphasize and prioritize regular investments in our public health infrastructure and crisis readiness.
  • Elevate supports for Nashville’s most vulnerable populations based on unique needs.
  • Align protocols and best practices across Nashville’s thriving business and tourism community.
  • Elevate leaders of Nashville’s minority faith communities as key influencers and trusted representatives for information sharing and emergency response.
  • Develop improved and standardized data sharing among health providers for better care coordination and outcomes.
  • Create easy-to-use and mobile-friendly online portals and dashboards for residents and businesses to use for testing, vaccinations, and applying for economic relief, as well as following progress on pandemic preparedness metrics.

WHAT NASHVILLE BENEFITS FROM

A Science-Driven Approach

Public-Private Partnerships 

Clear Crisis Communication

“We will be more ready because we took this opportunity to thoughtfully and collectively review our efforts. Our insights will position us to support our friends and neighbors all across the city in new and innovative ways because we will have better knowledge and understanding in real time.”

 

Bill Purcell

Former Nashville Mayor
Steering Committee Chairman

“It’s critical we look at socio-economic factors and policies that contributed to this outcome and propose ways we can better serve vulnerable populations to reduce disease burden in future health crises.”

 

James Hildreth, M.D., Ph.D.

President and CEO, Professor of Internal Medicine, Meharry Medical College.

PROJECT STEERING COMMITTEE

  • Mayor Bill Purcell, Chairman
  • Tama Van Decar, MD, HCA Healthcare | Tri-Star Division
  • Kelly Shearin, Amerigroup
  • Kristen Keely-Dinger, The Healing Trust
  • Angela Goddard, Joe C. Davis Foundation
  • Brian Hassett, United Way of Greater Nashville
  • Wright Pinson, MD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
  • Greg James, MD, Ascension Saint Thomas
  • James Hildreth, PhD, MD, Meharry Medical College
  • Ralph Schulz, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce
  • Ben Eagles, Office of the Mayor
  • Gill Wright, MD, Metro Public Health Department
  • Chief William Swann, Office of Emergency Management
  • Nancy Keil, Second Harvest Food Bank
  • Morgan Wills, MD, Siloam Health
  • Ken Levitan, Vector Management
  • Steve Brophy, Dollar General 
  • Brian Hale, Neighborhood Health
  • Sallie Hussey, Fifty Forward 
  • TN Representative Harold Love, Lee Chapel AME Church
  • Martha Silva and Tara Lentz, Conexión Américas

This report was prepared by and in collaboration with Avalere Health, a national leading healthcare consulting firm specializing in strategy, policy, and data analysis for life sciences, health plans, and providers.

This project is made possible with support from the following organizations: