The University of Kansas Health System is treating a total of 41 COVID patients today, 34 yesterday. Other significant numbers:
- 26 with the active virus today, 24 yesterday
- 6 in ICU, 4 yesterday
- 4 on a ventilator, 3 yesterday
Key points from today’s guests:
Morning Rounds – Summary of Current Events
Dr. Bryan Beaver, director, emergency & disaster medicine, Fellowship Program, The University of Kansas Health System
- With severe storm season underway, it’s important to be prepared for weather-related injuries.
- A 2018 study showed that about 90 percent of the injuries we see after a tornado are soft tissue injuries such as lacerations and abrasions. It is important to make sure you take care of cuts to avoid infection.
- One of the common things that people forget when they go to the safe place in their house is their medications. Have those medications in a place where you can quickly grab them as you're heading downstairs.
- If you're a patient that's dependent on any sort of medical device, particularly those that require power, make sure you have a backup power source available in case of a power outage.
Focus Topic
Dr. Roy Jensen, director & vice chair, The University of Kansas Cancer Center
- Dr. Holzbeierlein’ s new position – serving as physician-in-chief – is a critical role in the cancer center because it's the major liaison between the research aspects of the cancer center, and the provision of clinical care as we continue to be a world class clinical program that is on the cutting edge of care for our patients.
- We had people from some of the best cancer centers across the world apply for this position, but what became clear in that selection process was that Dr. Holzbeierlein was able to articulate a vision for the 21st century of the KU Cancer Center and how we build and integrate world-class research aspects into that clinical program.
- The research is clear – patients do better at an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and there are a number of reasons for that:
- Our physicians are not only world class clinicians, they also have tremendous experience.
- Another reason is access to technology – you don't have to go any farther than our new proton unit, which is the most technologically advanced proton unit in the world.
- Our physicians have such a volume of patients, that they can be highly specialized, and so they know exactly what the standard of care is.
- We're in the middle of a revolution right now with the adoption of immunotherapy as frontline treatment for many of the cancers that we face.
- We’ve seen the tremendous success that the various forms of immunotherapy have had in a wide variety of cancers. This is simply a game changing moment.
Dr. Jeff Holzbeierlein, new physician-in-chief, The University of Kansas Cancer Center; president, Society of Urologic Oncology, Inc.
- Dr. Holzbeierlein has been heavily involved in a number of innovations at the Kansas Center, including:
- Starting a trial – which is now a multi institutional trial across the United States – looking at giving a supplement that can help modulate the immune system and reduce infections.
- A pre-operative drink that could prevent low blood sugar.
- A drug that we've been working with a medicinal chemist on that can inhibit “protein 90”, that may lead to cancer cell death.
- One of the things he wants to do in the new position is try to leverage some of the great resources in Kansas City, such as working with Garmin to develop a project where they had a wearable to help monitor patients after surgery.
- In 2021, he also had the unique experience to answer the call from the Kansas City Zoo to operate on a 400 pound gorilla named Curtis to have his kidney removed.
- From the diagnosis to survivorship, we want to make sure that as patients are living longer, and they're living those productively as we support patients throughout the entire cancer journey.
Dr. Terry Tsue, former physician-in-chief, The University of Kansas Cancer Center
- As outgoing physician-in-chief, Dr. Tsue will be heavily involved in the transition.
- He is excited about the future of the Cancer Center because it's always great to have fresh eyes and a new perspective.
- You can't really overstate the collaboration that we envision with co-localizing researchers and clinicians together to maximize the power of their sharing and what they're going to be able to accomplish through that.
COVID Updates
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, The University of Kansas Health System
- Low community spread is good news, but there is still COVID activity and we are still seeing severe illness.
- We are gaining population immunity with vaccinations and/or infections.
- The virus is still out there. If you are at high risk, please be up to date with your vaccines.
Wednesday, April 5 is the next Open Mics with Dr. Stites. When standard chemotherapy wasn’t working for one patient, a blend of two remarkable therapies – CAR-T and CRISPR – trained the immune system to exterminate the cancer.
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