Abstract
Japanese Red Cross Kitami Hospital is a core medical institution in the Okhotsk medical region of Hokkaido and provides complete regional medical care in cooperation with surrounding medical institutions. A COVID-19 infection control headquarters system was established by Japanese Red Cross Kitami Hospital by the director of Japanese Red Cross Kitami Hospital following the first Hokkaido COVID-19 cluster outbreak in Kitami City to share information with COVID-19 receiving hospitals, public health centers, and administrative agencies. During the fourth wave, worsening COVID-19 disease severity resulted in a series of increased patient transfers to Japanese Red Cross Kitami Hospital from surrounding institutions which resulted in a strain on our medical system. At that time, because it was found that regional COVID-19 treatment in surrounding institutions was not standardized, a web conference was initiated between seven regional referral hospitals and public health centers in order to share the standard treatment methods. Subsequently, the number of COVID-19 patient transferred to Japanese Red Cross Kitami Hospital decreased. We conclude that regional standardization of COVID-19 treatment based on daily collaboration may have been effective to prevent COVID-19 severe cases in our medical region where medical resources are limited.
