Unprecedented times.

By Chris Tomlinson, MBA, CRA, FAHRA

We are truly in unprecedented times. We are hearing heroic stories from our members and their staff on the front lines. As we enter this week, our healthcare industry is at the center of the battle against COVID-19. Our imaging departments are under major pressure to support our hospitals and screening clinics. This is truly the time our leadership is most needed. We need to be calm and organized as we lead our staff, who are understandably scared for themselves and their families. Even though the PPE requirements keep changing and we deal with shortages, we must remain calm and poised as leaders.

Many of us have been battling for weeks without a day off. While we are all totally committed as leaders, I would encourage you to “tap out” if you need an evening or a day to regroup. I know this goes against our instincts as leaders. If we, as leaders, don’t practice self-care, we won’t be effective making decisions or leading our staff. The same goes for our managers and supervisors, sometimes we need to tap them on the shoulder and tell them to take some time. Remember, this will be a long battle and we need everyone to fight it.

I want all our members to know, we are united in our profession and the AHRA is stepping up to support you in many ways:

• Our members are posting guidance and best practices on the Forum including modality cleaning, PPE experience, portable x-ray allocation, technologist resource allocation, screening criteria and much more.
• Our Regulatory Affairs Committee is posting the latest federal information on Link.
• Board Member Gina Greenwood and Amanda Garlock co-presented a webinar on “COVID-19 – Real Time Experience in the Trenches” in a collaboration with the RBMA and the recording can be accessed here.
• We have created a COVID19 resource page on our website

The whole point of professional associations is to share information and support each other. Please use your AHRA family to collaborate on solutions, share best practices and to support one another. We are strong and will get through this. Please reach out to me or the AHRA staff for any support you need. We will continue to message resources available to help you, our members, win the battle against COVID-19. Stay strong and reach out to your AHRA family for help.

Chris Tomlinson

Chris Tomlinson, MBA, CRA, FAHRA is the 2019-2020 president of the AHRA Board of Directors. He is Enterprise Vice President, Radiology/Imaging, Clinical Lab & Pathology, Emergency & Hospital Medicine Service Lines at Jefferson Health in Philadelphia, PA. He can be reached at Christopher.Tomlinson@jefferson.edu