The University of Kansas Health System is holding steady with COVID patients. Significant numbers include:
- 58 active, up from 57 yesterday
- 12 ICU, up from 11 yesterday
- 6 on ventilators, the same as yesterday
- 70 recovering, down from 79 yesterday
Key points from today’s guests:
Dr. John Alm, Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Surgeon
- The biggest stress for many of the athletes is COVID
- Emotional stress of testing positive means they can’t compete
- A focus of their entire life comes down to a COVID test
- It’s the equivalent to a star player finding out the night before they can’t play in the Super Bowl
- Putting themselves in isolation for weeks and months leading up to games has been tough for them
- Working with these athletes is fun and they are very dedicated to their sport
- We take the same approach to local athletes as Olympic athletes – provide the best all-around care
- Advice to other amateur athletes: have fun and do it safely
- The pandemic isn’t over, so we still have to do things safely. Help the body stay strong and keep the immune system up.
Dr. Jerrod Harrall, Head Primary Team Physician, Kansas Team Health
- Has spent significant time in other countries helping prepare Olympic athletes
- The added layer of COVID preparation is significant when combined with the amount of normal preparation for the Olympics
- The preparation for the Winter Games was smoother than Summer Games
- Once you are in the village and competition venues, it felt like any other Games
- One of the advantages we have for these athletes is exposure to a number of experts throughout sports medicine field
- Getting to know the Olympic athletes personally, there is so much pride in knowing how much they’ve been through and seeing them succeed
- Astounded at how much work athletes put into this and how much pride the athletes take in representing our country
- Locally, preparations for the Big 12 basketball tournament are underway and involve weekly meetings with team physicians to review all policies/procedures to follow to keep athletes safe
Community Questions/Final Thoughts
- Monoclonal treatments – we are seeing a decrease in treatments for outpatients likely tied to decrease in overall COVID patients
- Second booster shots – there is no data right now to support that, but studies are ongoing
- Telemedicine – continues to be important for many patients, especially on bad weather days. Telemedicine is really critical for helping maintain good health practices.
As a reminder, a new program called “All Things Heart” debuts today on our Facebook and YouTube platforms. A new episode will air every Thursday at 10 a.m. CT.
Friday, February 18 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. It’s time to start thinking about preparing for spring sports season. Guests include Dr. Vincent Key, Head Team Physician for the KC Royals, President of the Medical Advisory Board for MLB, Dr. Doug Burton, Interim Chair of Orthopedics, and Dr. Bryan Vopat, Team Physician for the Kansas City Chiefs.
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.
