An opportunity to work together: Mount Sinai Health System
Carlos Cordon-Cardo, MD, PhD, Irene Heinz Given and John LaPorte Given Professor and Chairman, Department of Pathology
After the initial outbreak in Washington, there was a surge of cases in New York City, which became the epicenter of the world in terms of numbers.
“The first days of the pandemic were very hectic, very difficult, anxiety producing, but we were prepared,” says Dr. Carlos Cordon-Cardo. “Months before the pandemic arrived in New York, we knew that it was not a matter of if, but a matter of when.”
Cordon-Cardo believes the fact that it took a variety of stakeholders to respond to the pandemic may result in long-term benefits.
“The opportunity that we have been given to work together, academic institutions, healthcare systems, with the commercial laboratories, biotech and pharma has been absolutely wonderful,” Cordon-Cardo says. “I hope that this gets to stay, because we cannot confront any of this by ourselves.”
Prior to the pandemic, Mount Sinai was working with Labcorp on digital pathology initiatives, which proved beneficial as pathologists were forced to work remotely.
“The pandemic has accelerated how digital pathology has been built, how critical it is, and how helpful it can be,” Cordon-Cardo says. “We have a new tool that, when wisely used, not only increases the efficiency of the pathologist, but the networking for difficult situations. You can immediately share cases and have a dialogue in order to end at a better place for the patient.”