Mayo’s bold changes, moving forward through the COVID-19 pandemic

In the midst of the COVID-19 global health crisis, Mayo Clinic is changing the way patient care is provided.

"I think, as an organization, we've made close to a decade of progress over the course of one year," says Mayo Clinic President and CEO Dr. Gianrico Farrugia. "The COVID-19 pandemic pushed us faster and further than we could have imagined. We're now tangibly stronger than we were pre-COVID — in our practice, in education, in research and in operation and business agility.

One example, says Dr. Farrugia, has been with virtual and digital care. "We all want to see our patients in person," explains Dr. Farrugia. "But the other side of the coin is that it's important to meet patients where they are, to make health care easier for their daily lives. What we're seeing now is that we can do both physical and virtual care really well and do it seamlessly."

In this Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Farrugia says, "Amidst all the grief and the loss that we all experienced, there's a lot we have gained and now it's incumbent on us to make sure we use it to transform health care." Listen as Dr. Farrugia describes how that transformation is happening at Mayo Clinic.

Read the full transcript.

To practice safe social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, this interview was conducted using video conferencing. The sound and video quality are representative of the technology used. For the safety of its patients, staff and visitors, Mayo Clinic has strict masking policies in place. Anyone shown without a mask was recorded prior to COVID-19 or recorded in an area not designated for patient care, where social distancing and other safety protocols were followed.

For more information and all your COVID-19 coverage, go to the Mayo Clinic News Network and mayoclinic.org.