UAB and Birmingham has had a little more time to prepare for this than some other places in the country. In your opinion has the response been swift and proactive?

We have been very fortunate in Birmingham to have the benefit of the experience of colleagues in Washington, New York, Switzerland, China and other locales who have been faced with the challenges of this pandemic before us. We have used our relationships with other medical teams around the globe to prepare our hospital, staff, and community for COVID-19. Our response has been both swift and proactive but there are many challenges that arise daily. Our hospital leadership created a Command Center very early to bring key leaders from across our medical community together to address the crisis. Our laboratories directed their focus on developing capacity for testing, which has proven to be a significant limitation to our understanding the scope of the problem. With improved testing capacity, we are better able to enact effective public health measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus. We have been working closely with the Jefferson County and Alabama Public Health leaders, as well as political leaders in the community to provide consistent messaging to the people in our region to be clear about what we can do as citizens to limit the spread of the virus.

Our hospital has been focused on assuring that we have capacity to provide care to individuals who require inpatient care for respiratory illness related to COVID-19, while still providing care for other medical issues that have not stopped during this crisis. We are taking measures to provide the best care for all of our patients. Many of our providers have transitioned to telemedicine to provide care to our patients who require regular outpatient care presently. We are also partnering with clinics around the state to make sure providers have accurate information about the coronavirus and what they can do to prevent further spread.

1917 clinic patients will face unique challenges during this crisis. Which ones are at the forefront on your mind?

Overton: For persons living with HIV who are followed at the 1917 Clinic, our focus is to assure continuity of care through this period. We are working to assure access to life-sustaining HIV medications, as well as other medications for chronic diseases. We are transitioning to telehealth for as many patients as possible, but continue to see patients for essential visits. WE developed a screening process to identify persons with potential COVID-19 infection and direct them to testing facilities at UAB and in our region. This will prevent the spread of the coronavirus among patients in our clinic. The 1917 team remain committed to maintain the health of our patients. Other clinics at UAB are taking a similar approach.

How are you and your colleagues planning on using the advanced research infrastructure at the 1917 clinic to answers questions about COVID-19

At the 1917 Clinic, research has always been integral to HIV care. We have always participated in research studies to develop novel therapies for people living with HIV. Because of over 30 years of experience, we are putting our efforts towards COVID-19. Several of our faculty are leading local efforts on research studies for the treatment of Coronavirus for both hospitalized patients and ambulatory patients. There are currently no approved medicines for the coronavirus. Controlled research studies are needed to determine the efficacy of the agents that have been discussed by certain politicians, as Dr. Anthony Fauci has eloquently stated. We are also identifying persons who are recovering from COVID-19 to evaluate their immune responses to the virus to help with vaccine and therapy development.

Are there any trials at UAB that have started or will soon start you can comment on?

Drs. Paul Goepfert and Nathan Erdmann are leading an NIH study of remdesivir versus placebo for hospitalized patients with COVID-19. This study is currently enrolling participants.

We are also participating in two studies assessing the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine with and without azithromycin for both hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and outpatient ambulatory patients with COVID-19. These studies will be open in the next few weeks.

We are very honored to be selected to serve as site for these critical studies that will determine whether these drugs will work for the treatment of COVID-19.