Michael Myint, MD: MultiCare’s resident COVID-19 expert

In October 2019, Michael Myint, MD, joined MultiCare as the organization’s physician executive for population health. In his new role, Dr. Myint worked with the population health team to create an action plan to help transform how health care is delivered. This includes partnering with patients throughout their life journeys and care teams, as well as redefining care/payment models.

And then, everything changed.

“I made a call in January to (MultiCare’s chief medical officer) Dave Carlson asking, ‘What are we doing about this novel coronavirus that they’re seeing in China?’’’ Dr. Myint says. “Since then, I’ve been asked to help lead as a subject matter expert for MultiCare’s COVID response work.”

As an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist — who responded to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the more recent Ebola West Africa outbreaks in 2014 — Dr. Myint was well-equipped to help lead MultiCare’s COVID-19 response efforts. Looking back over this past year, he’s seen significant intersections between public health and population health play out in addressing COVID-19.

“COVID-19 made both of those come together in a way that I couldn’t have imagined,” Dr. Myint explains. “Our Medicare-aged populations are particularly vulnerable to COVID. Therefore, the emphasis on public health initiatives such as social distancing was very appropriate. At the same time, we realized that medical care and mental health could suffer for patients due to the shelter-at-home orders from the governor. To address these risks, MultiCare has been reaching out to our Medicare patients to check in on them since the beginning of the pandemic.”

The power of partnerships between cities, counties, state and federal governments, and peer organizations across the region and nation has also been inspiring to Dr. Myint.

“It’s been fantastic,” he says. “The hospitals in Washington state agreed that no hospital will go to crisis standards of care alone — where they have to choose a ventilator for patient A versus patient B if they both meet medical criteria. We would support each other until we all had to go into crisis mode.”

But, responding to a worldwide outbreak has taken a crushing toll on health care workers. For Dr. Myint and his colleagues, MultiCare’s culture of excellence and individuals willing to go the extra mile have all been sources of strength during this time. He’s also found joy in getting a new puppy, cooking and baking more, reading a few leisure books and having more weekends home together with his wife and two teenage daughters throughout the pandemic.

Dr. Myint and the population health team can do their critical work thanks to philanthropic efforts that have planted the seeds for MultiCare to build trusting relationships within our communities.

“Philanthropic work has been beneficial to continue to engage in different ways with our community and bring resources to those patients that then need care within our facilities,” he says. “This pandemic has not affected all groups equally, so philanthropy is a necessary pillar to successfully becoming the highest value system of health in the Pacific Northwest.”

Join us in celebrating our health care “rock stars” like Dr. Myint by attending Rock the Foundation on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. Learn more at Rock the Foundation’s website.