As we strive to keep our healthcare professionals and staff informed with the most recent developments in the coronavirus outbreak, below is a useful, easy-to-read summary of the measures we have taken at Cross Country Healthcare to keep our providers and organization informed and prepared. Cross Country Healthcare and our leaders remain committed to keeping everyone informed with up-to-date information. Your health and safety are of utmost important at all time.

• We have established a screening process for any healthcare provider traveling outside of the U.S. to ensure they are safe to work upon return. They are asked a series of screening questions and sent to our Clinical Team for clearance if applicable. In the event they are symptomatic, they are referred to their local health department and/or personal physician.
• We are reviewing our domestic travel activity and our office visitor traffic to minimize risk of exposure.
• We have established a clinical hotline (800.998.5058) to answer any and all questions related to COVID-19 from our non-clinical staff, healthcare professionals and clients. We also have an internal social channel where we share the latest updates.
• Cross Country Healthcare’s Chief Clinical Officer, Hank Drummond, has educated our staff and healthcare providers through numerous communication channels, including articles, blogs, videos and individual consultations, to keep them informed of the latest developments and ensure they understand key safety measures. 
  
  Finally, we have established a COVID-19 Command Center and SWAT Team to meet the following real-time objectives:
  
  
• Twice daily meetings to monitor virus spread, hot areas, changes in state emergency designations, etc. 
• Sharing client feedback, specific to their markets/facility/staff, including concerns around available equipment, protective gear, client-specific measures put in place, etc. 
• Monitoring competitive market to ensure our client guidance is timely and setting up our key strategic partners for success should surge staffing needs arise. 
• Feedback from Supplier Communities regarding their concerns (quarantine, cancellations, etc.) 
• Tracking HCP concerns related to their current or upcoming assignments 
• Social/community updates (travel restrictions and/or advisories and their impact to our clients, HCPs, Supplier Communities, internal staff, etc.) 
• Education dissemination to all CCH staff (internal channels, SWAT team leads, etc.) 

As your trusted partner, it is incredibly important to our organization that we help you meet this challenging situation. As such, we are working diligently and quickly to meet your surge capacity needs by implementing several measures to ramp up our supply and delivery of clinicians. Cross Country Healthcare can deliver physicians, nurses and advanced practitioners in any capacity – from travel, per-diem, locums, local short-term contracts to permanent positions. We are the largest supplier of per diem staffing in the country. We are also leveraging our more than 300 aligned vendor partners nationally and locally, including our rapid response provider to meet large-scale, time-sensitive deployments. As your strategic partner, we will go above and beyond to provide you the support and insight you need during this time. To that end, we recommend the following:

• Posting as soon as possible for all the staff you will be needing for the next 3-6 months.
• Consider current travelers and per diem staff and their assignments. To protect and ensure continuity in your current support levels, we can offer extensions/renewals for assignments ending in March, April and May or offer additional shifts to current providers on assignment.
• Keep in mind that contract rates often increase during crisis such as this. We are seeing providers at other facilities leaving assignments early to take positions for significantly higher rates.

Yes, we have aggressive emergency strategies, disaster preparedness and contingency plans ready and are prepared to enact rotational schedules and/or virtual workforce models as needed to ensure business continuity.

From an operations perspective we are equipped and ready to supply customers with additional staff if needed. Our rapid response team is devoted solely to answering emergency staffing needs, and we have readied our healthcare provider and supplier networks to respond to the call.

Here is a checklist for facilities that can help you implement strategies to reduce infection and prepare for impact: https://www.crosscountryhealthcare.com/blogs/covid-19-infections-vital-checklist-for-healthcare-facilities-

• CDC Updates for Healthcare Facilities
• WHO Critical Preparedness Readiness & Response Actions

Due to closure of Training center locations, for the American Heart Association, Cross Country Healthcare will be following the AHA’s recommendation to extend AHA Provider Cards beyond the renewal date, for up to 60 days.