National Infusion Center Association (NICA) Receives "COVID Hero" Award

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Infusion Center Association's CEO, Brian Nyquist, MPH, and Chief Clinical Officer, Kaitey Morgan, RN, BSN, CRNI received the NewYorkBIO "COVID Hero" award for the NICA team's unique vision, talents, and leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID Heroes of New York awards showcase members of NewYorkBIO who were at "ground zero" when the pandemic swept the United States and pulled together to keep Americans and America's health care workforce safe.

NICA, the nonprofit trade association formed to support and represent the nation's infusion centers that furnish provider-administered medications, was pulled into the pandemic response to support monoclonal antibody infusions for COVID-positive patients. 

NICA helped create a roadmap for launching and integrating COVID-19-focused novel therapeutics, build infrastructure and protocols to facilitate timely access, educate healthcare providers and the public, and anticipate and navigate supply channel constraints.

While supporting infusion centers in New York City, specifically, early into the pandemic in 2020, NICA helped transition patients displaced from hospitals to infusion centers, then helped infusion centers navigate saline and supply disruptions as their burn rate increased 7-fold overnight.

"The people at NICA believe in making sacrifices to do the right things for the right reasons." said Brian Nyquist, Chief Executive Officer of NICA. "We quickly realized our experience with past drug launches could be leveraged to support the country's pandemic response, and we dove in headfirst and without hesitation. 

Navigating an unprecedented global catastrophe requires extraordinary effort and commitment from ordinary people who choose to lend their expertise, insights, or resources to the cause. NICA did what was right for our communities and their families."

NICA's efforts contributed to maintaining continuity of care for New York's highest-risk patients and keeping them out of the emergency room. Once COVID monoclonal antibodies became more widely available, NICA's dedicated locator solution (which supported over 1.4 million searches across the country in 2021) greatly helped reduce COVID-related hospitalizations and deaths in New York City and more broadly across the country.

"NewYorkBIO was pleased to honor a number of individuals as COVID Heroes." said Jennifer Hawks Bland, CEO NewYorkBIO. "I am in awe of the work that Brian and his colleagues at NICA did to ensure that patients had access to the COVID treatments they needed in a safe environment like home, including nursing homes. NICA went above and beyond to answer the call to help with their unique qualifications and patient community. We thank them for their commitment during COVID." 

Learn about NICA: infusioncenter.org
Learn about NewYorkBIO: newyorkbio.org

The National Infusion Center Association (NICA) is a nonprofit organization with the mission to preserve and advance the trade of furnishing provider-administered medications in non-hospital, community-based care settings. NICA's efforts are focused on addressing and overcoming challenges and threats to the sustainability of the most affordable care setting for provider-administered medications.

General Inquiries: 3307 Northland Dr, Suite 160, Austin, Texas 78731

Web: www.infusioncenter.org

Editor's Contact: Alex Brown, 5129565511, [email protected]

SOURCE National Infusion Center Association