Nevada State Public Health Laboratory Director Dr. Mark Pandori shows us how they test samples for COVID-19. Reno Gazette Journal

Northern Nevada is only at the very beginning of the worlds coronavirus pandemic, said President and CEO of Renown Health Tony Slonim.

We would expect things to get worse before they get better, said Slonim in an interview Friday with the Reno Gazette Journal.

Slonim, who has been at the helm of Renown since 2014, talked candidly about the shortcomings of the medical system in Nevada, where testing for COVID-19 is still low, and how he navigates a system in a state where finding enough doctors has always been a struggle.

I think the important part for me, when you are in one of these crisis moments, you train for it, you drill for it, prepare for it for years as your responsibility, and the day actually comes when you have to use your skills," Slonim said. "It's a little bit ... its humbling."

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Theres been nothing like this crisis before for Slonim, who has an impressive resume.

He was at Childrens National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., on 9/11, working in the trauma center and intensive care unit of a pediatric hospital.

This reminds me of that, he said.

Slonim is quick to praise his medical team and others in the statewho have come together in this crisis.

He is on daily calls with leaders of other hospitals. They talk about the supply of ventilators.As he watches what has happened in other cities as the virus has spread, he knows there arenot enough.

Dr. Tony Slonim(Photo: Jamie Kingham, provided by Renown)

At some point there was a tipping point where the volume of patients increased dramatically and that outstripped the capabilities both supply wise, experience wise and equipment wise, he said.

Slonim said there are a couple of hundred ventilators available in Northern Nevada. He and the other hospital executives talk about how to get more.

But its not just ventilators.

You cant just have a ventilator. You have to know how to operate it, he said.

Despite Nevada focusing on recruiting doctors to the Silver State, there is still a shortage that is decades-old problem.

"We are short. We start needing people. You have to give people a break in this, he said, adding that in this type of crisis, staff will befatigued.

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It takes extra effort to provide care in an isolation environment.

The staff he has could be stretched thin, something he watchesknowing he must rotate people in charge and staff who often wantto keep working.

He calls staff his heroes,from doctors and nurses to people looking for supplies. Many have given up vacations and put aside their own worries to work.

Unfortunately, events like this bring out the best in people, he said.

Slonim sounds almost careful when asked about the number of test kits and how testing is going in Nevada. He said the governor and the health department are diligently working and aware of the problems.

A triage tent is seen at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno on March 12, 2020.(Photo: Jason bean)

He said they are doing the best with the tests they have.

To date, Nevadahas tested nearly 2,100 people and as of Friday positive cases were nearing 200. Two people in Clark County have died.

But Slonim said Nevada needs to test more.

We need broader capabilities around making sure we have broad-scale surge testing available in Nevada, so we can segregate people who have it from those that do not, he said.

He said the same type of testing the state pioneered with the Healthy Nevada Projectshould be happening for COVID-19.

Launched in 2016, the Healthy Nevada Project was a community-based population study where genetic testing was provided to thousands of Nevadans to learn about the health of the community and genetic risks.

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Because if I could test 60,000 people in Northern Nevada (for COVID-19), I would really understand with data and factsthe proportion of people who actually have it versus those that just have the sniffles and a cold.

He said it would help him and others make decisions and plan for coronavirus with evidence. He wants to be able to test nursing home patients.

We know, boy do we know, that nursing home residents are vulnerable, he saidof knowing they will eventually get sick and come to the hospital, triggering an influx of patients.

Testing is pivotal upstream, so you can prevent consequences downstream.

The triage tent is seen at the Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno on March 12, 2020.(Photo: JASON BEAN/RGJ)

Slonim admits hes anxious. He worries about his family and his elderly parents who live outside of a coronavirus epicenter in New York.

And there are days even he wonders if he is getting sick.

All of the sudden you are convinced you have COVID-19, he said. You can make yourself feel something if you let your imagination run wild.

Wondering with every coughif you've come down with the virus isn't limited to laypeople:Its real. It happens to me. It happens to my family."

He says the hospital feels like it does on the streets.

There is an air of what is going on, he said.

Elective surgeries were put off. More than 2,000employees who can work from home do. And many employees are waiting for the surge that will come.

Not to minimize it by these words, but it is our responsibility to go on as businesses as usual.

Siobhan McAndrew tells stories about the people of Northern Nevada and covers education in Washoe County. Read her journalism right here. Consider supporting her work by subscribing to the Reno Gazette Journal.

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Renown CEO on coronavirus: 'We would expect things to get worse before they get better' - Reno Gazette Journal

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