GPPC: A Practice with Vision: Prepared for and Equipped to Heal During a Pandemic

By Annette Pinder

As physician practices consider how to best respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, General Physician, PC (GPPC) is taking the lead in Western New York in countless ways, keeping their doors open, and taking every precaution to keep patients, staff, and our community safe and healthy.

Richard Charles MD, Chief Medical Officer of GPPC and Chairman of the Physician Leadership Board of Optimum Physician Alliance, also maintains a primary care practice in Buffalo and Amherst. Like many risking their lives for patients, Dr. Charles’ workday begins in the wee hours of morning and ends after most of us are already asleep. He is particularly proud of how GPPC has stepped up to meet this unimaginable challenge.

“We’ve implemented safety practices in all of GPPC’s 70 medical and corporate offices to minimize the risk of infection, ensuring our ability to deliver the highest quality of care possible. We provide ongoing COVID-19 updates and answers to questions on our website and have developed an innovative triage system that includes a dedicated COVID-19 hotline.” What GPPC has accomplished has taken vision and planning. “Two weeks before reports of any positive local COVID-19 cases, we were already prepared for major changes. As case numbers grew, and without sufficient testing, we were ready for a barrage of phone calls,” explains Dr. Charles.

To meet the need, GPPC created a triage response system that includes a COVID-19 Call Center, a Respiratory Care Clinic, and Subacute Home and Rehab Care.

COVID-19 Call Center. Nurses answering patient calls review their history, symptoms, and level of risk to determine the level of care they require. Those deemed safe at home receive a phone call daily for two weeks from a nurse, physician, or physician assistant who monitors their status.

Respiratory Care Clinic. Led by Dr. Allyn Norman, GPPC’s Respiratory Care Clinic, located on Youngs Road in Williamsville, is essentially a drive-through. Physicians, like Dr. Upasana Kochhar, dressed in what look like hazmat suits, assess each patient. They determine whether a patient can safely return home; if medication or a chest x-ray is required; or if the patient requires hospital admission.

Subacute and Rehab Home Care. Paul Shields DO, is Medical Director of GPPC’s Post-Acute Care Program, which is supported by Great Lakes Health System (Kaleida Health, Erie County Medical Center, and the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care). This level of care is intended for patients leaving the hospital, but who are unable to return home. Some have the virus, while others have various life-threatening illnesses. Contributing to the team, Elderwood has created space in many of their nursing homes to care for these patients, while Dr. Shields and other providers make house calls.

Dr. Charles is proud of his COVID team, calling out Dr. James Panzarella, Dr. Allyn Norman, and Sarah Cleveland, a physician assistant more than six months pregnant, who shows up daily. He is also grateful to the physician specialists who don’t ordinarily do this work, but when asked, simply answered, “Count me in. We’re a family!”

To learn more about General Physician, PC, please visit www.gppconline.com. For information regarding COVID-19, visit www.gppconline.com/patient-information/coronavirus. To reach the hotline, call 716-599-GPPC (4772).