Echoes of the Pandemic: Novant's Dr. David Priest shares notes on facing the unknown

Novant Health Chief Safety and Quality Officer Dr. David Priest doesn’t get rattled easily. That may be why when the pandemic hit, he became the public face of the health system’s COVID-19 response. Over three years, Priest was quoted in 1,300 stories, answering questions about how to manage the virus. 

As an infectious disease specialist, he’d studied pandemics before but immediately knew this one was different. He took notes on his day-to-day experiences making critical decisions for the health care system and planning for the worst. In this installment of Echoes of Pandemic, Priest dusts off that notebook and reflects on the moments that stuck with him. 

Interview Highlights

On facing the unknown: 

“I was looking back at a notebook of my notes from March, and there's a list of things I was concerned about at the time, which was, we don't have a test, we don't have treatment, and we don't have a vaccine, and because it's spreading fast, we don't have the clues we might need to know if someone had COVID. There weren't a whole lot of things we could do immediately.”

On the sacrifices of his colleagues: 

“What sticks in my brain the most is the dedication of ICU nurses. I almost get a little emotional thinking about what they did through that time, how dedicated they were. There was so much uncertainty. Some of them didn't go home to their family because they were too concerned they were going to give them the virus. They were undressing in their garages to wash their clothes. That was a really, really difficult time.”

On lessons learned:

“We have a lot of great things about American health care, but we've got opportunities too, and one of those is pandemic preparedness. And when there's 100 years in between the really big ones, people forget. And I don't think there'll be 100 years until the next one, so I think we need to be planning and go ahead and think about what's it going to take, and how do we take care of each other.”

*Editor's note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity. Music featured in this story was composed and performed by Adam Bennett.