COVID numbers are down but hospitalizations are still at record levels, people are still dying from omicron, ICUs are still full, and we can’t afford to take our foot off the gas in the COVID fight. Those were the main points brought home by 13 hospital chief medical officers who gathered for a news and community conference call today.
Here are the 13 doctors who participated in the order they spoke. The link to the entire news conference is above.
- Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer, The University of Kansas Health System
- Dr. Richard Watson, co-founder, Motient
- Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, The University of Kansas Health System
- Dr. Lisa Hays, Chief Medical Officer, Advent Health Shawnee Mission
- Dr. Raghu Adiga, Chief Medical Officer, Liberty Hospital
- Dr. Elizabeth Long, Chief Medical Officer at Olathe Health
- Dr. James Stewart, Chief Medical Officer, North Kansas City Hospital
- Dr. Mark Steele, Executive Chief Clinical Officer, University Health-Truman
- Dr. Ahmad Batrash, Chief of Staff, Kansas City VA Hospital
- Dr. Jennifer Schrimsher, infectious diseases physician at LMH Health and deputy public health officer for Douglas County
- Dr. Jackie Hyland, Chief Medical Officer, The University of Kansas Health System - St. Francis Campus
- Dr. Kevin Dishman, Chief Medical Officer, Stormont Vail Health
- Dr. Samer "Sam" Antonios, Chief Clinical Officer, Ascension Via Christi Health
Key points from the panel: (Time codes in parentheses)
Dr. Stites
- Numbers may be lower but are still the highest of any time during the pandemic (6:30)
- Hard to justify singling out two drugs, ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, for special protection by lawmakers. Law would eliminate legal protection for patients and shift all risk to them. (55:00)
Dr. Steele
- With omicron, the unvaccinated are 23 times more likely to be hospitalized and 68 times more likely to die (38:35)
Dr. Antonios
- Omicron has so far evaded any natural immunity a person might have from having had COVID. (32:35)
Dr. Long
- Described meeting with a patient who attended a family gathering in which three family members caught COVID and eventually died. (41:10)
Dr. Watson
- Rural transfers to larger hospitals improving but still need a 20 to 30% drop in COVID cases to get system back to normal (5:55)
- Testing not always picking up omicron variant. Testing and boosters have to change to adapt. (36:50)
Dr. Dishman
- Still seeing a limited supply of antiviral treatment (49:25)
Dr. Adiga
- A late surge in flu cases is still possible, especially if we let our guard down. (52:35)
Dr. Hawkinson
- We must continue to get vaccinated, wear masks and socially distance if we want to see better times this spring. (8:00)
Thursday, February 3 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. Dr. Roy Jensen, director of The University of Kansas Cancer Center, talks about new studies of how COVID affects cancer patients and what role genetic markers in the disease. Also, Dr. Ronald Chen on whether we’re catching up on cancer screenings after COVID brought a huge drop in those vital tests.
ATTENTION: media procedure for joining:
Zoom link: https://kumc-ois.zoom.us/j/7828978628
Telephone Zoom link: 1-312-626-6799, meeting ID: 782 897 8628
TVU Grid link: UoK_Health_SDI
Restream links: Facebook.com/kuhospital
YouTube.com/kuhospital
Send advance questions to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.
