Clinical Outcomes in the Second versus First Pandemic Wave in Italy: Impact of Hospital Changes and Reorganization

The region of Lombardy was the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. Emergency Hospital 19 (EH19) was built in the Milan metropolitan area during the pandemic's second wave as a facility of Humanitas Clinical and Research Center (HCRC). The present study aimed to assess whether the implementation of EH19 was effective in improving the quality of care of COVID-19 patients during the second wave compared with the first one. The demographics, mortality rate, and in-hospital length of stay (LOS) of two groups of patients were compared: the study group involved patients admitted at HCRC and managed in EH19 during the second pandemic wave, while the control group included patients managed exclusively at HCRC throughout the first wave. The study and control group included 903 (56.7%) and 690 (43.3%) patients, respectively. The study group was six years older on average and had more pre-existing comorbidities. EH19 was associated with a decrease in the intensive care unit admission rate (16.9% vs. 8.75%, p < 0.001), and an equal decrease in invasive oxygen therapy (3.8% vs. 0.23%, p < 0.001). Crude mortality was similar but overlap propensity score weighting revealed a trend toward a potential small decrease. The adjusted difference in LOS was not significant. The implementation of an additional COVID-19 hospital facility was effective in improving the overall quality of care of COVID-19 patients during the first wave of the pandemic when compared with the second. Further studies are necessary to validate the suggested approach.