As Medical Director of Infection Prevention at Atrium Health, Dr. Katie Passaretti has been on the frontlines of the war against the spread of COVID-19 in our community. She's also worked closely with the Charlotte Symphony to advise on safety protocols; keeping our staff, musicians, and audiences safe and keeping the music playing throughout the pandemic. 

What was your path to becoming the Medical Director of Infection Prevention? 
I think it started when my mom was a home health care nurse and took me on patient visits from a young age. I was always drawn to and excelled at math and science, so going into the field of healthcare seemed like a natural path for me. I studied biology at Johns Hopkins and ended up staying there for medical school, residency and an infectious disease fellowship -- a total of 16 years. I found that infectious disease and hospital epidemiology had a great mix of patient care, interesting stuff, data nerdiness, detective work and the ability to impact larger populations. In 2011, I left Hopkins and came to Atrium Health to take a health system role as medical director of Infection Prevention and never looked back. It's been a wild, but gratifying ride.

How has your day-to-day changed since the pandemic began?  
No one day has been the same for the past year it's been a whirlwind of activity without a doubt! There have been more meetings, emails, phone calls and media interviews than I can count, combined with caring for patients with COVID and other infectious diseases. The days and months have been long and emotional, but worthwhile, and the support and commitment of my leaders at Atrium Health to do what's best for patients, teammates and our community has been inspiring every step of the way!

"A huge part of healing our community is to bring the arts back."

How have you been helping the Charlotte Symphony ensure a safe environment for staff, musicians, and audience?  
My specialty is how to prevent the spread of infections, so I've helped serve as a subject matter expert on reopening safely. That work includes everything from when to start letting people back in, testing symphony staff, masking requirements and ways to make the experience as safe as possible in this time of COVID.

Why do you feel it's important for performing arts institutions to continue their work during this time?  
Artists and the institutions that showcase them and their works are the heart and soul of our community. While the steps taken this past year were necessary to protect our community, there have been tremendous losses and the lack of access to the arts is very much one of those losses. While re-opening performing arts institutions must continue to be done safely, a huge part of healing our community is to bring the arts back.

Learn more about the everyday heroes at Atrium Health.