The University of Kansas Health System continues to have lower numbers of COVID-19 patients. As of today, 15 patients are being treated for the virus, down from 17 yesterday. 5 of those patients are in the ICU, down from 6 yesterday. Doctors said we’re lucky we have not seen a large surge of patients, especially since 10 people tested positive after a recent gathering at Lake Perry. They say those who gathered at the Lake of the Ozarks last Memorial Day weekend may just now be starting to show symptoms if they are infected.
Joining the discussion were Allen Greiner, MD, Medical Officer for KCK Wyandotte County, Chris Brown, MD, hospitalist at The University of Kansas Health System and Carrie Francis, MD, a head and neck surgeon at The University of Kansas Health System. They discussed health equity in the fight against COVID-19 and what can be done to better protect our most vulnerable.
Dr. Greiner had good news and bad news. The good news is the numbers of new cases and deaths from the virus in Wyandotte County are dropping. But the bad news is the county still has by far more cases than anywhere in the region. He says minority populations, of which Wyandotte County is about 40%, are more vulnerable to COVID-19, as well as most other medical problems. He addressed the factors that lead to this greater risk and what can be done.
Dr. Brown talked about some of the ways he and his colleagues have had to be creative with sending patients back home. He gave the example of how they helped arrange for a child with sickle-cell to be cared for with another relative so the hospital patient who needed to be isolated could return home. He says minority populations tend to wait much longer to seek medical care and thus have worse outcomes. He believes the medical community needs to work very hard to gain their trust, which he says is a daunting task given all the various minority populations in the area.
Dr. Francis believes it’s important to use data to address the issues that have created health inequities. As an ear, nose and throat physician, she’s in one of the highest risk specialties due to the close contact with patients. She explained the extra measures she and her colleagues have taken to ensure patient and staff safety. She says COVID-19 reflects the overall inequities faced by many minority populations and says the medical profession must be advocates for those patients.
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of infection prevention and control at The University of Kansas Health System reminds us that 30-35 percent of COVID-19 patients never have symptoms, which he says is scary because it’s hard to tell who may be spreading the disease. He addressed questions of why one person in a family may get it and others may not and whether there’s any fear that a vaccine is being rushed. He says the medical community must be planning now for how to get that vaccine to the community as quickly as possible when it’s ready.
Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at the health system, said having an African American wife and biracial adult children such as he does helps him see the world through their eyes. He says politicizing a pandemic is not the right thing. But he says recognizing the pandemic highlights racial disparities and injustices in our country and stepping up and doing something about it is the right thing.
.Dr. Greiner also gave the following resources for those who want to volunteer or donate during this pandemic:
Crosslines - https://www.cross-lines.org/how-to-help/volunteer.html
Vibrant Health - https://vibranthealthkc.org/support/
Harvesters - https://www.harvesters.org/coronavirus
TUKHS - https://www.kansashealthsystem.com/giving/ways-to-give
CHC - http://wycohealth.com/get-involved-2/
WYAN Health Department – Wycokck.org/covid-19
Monday, June 1 at 8:00 a.m. is the next daily briefing call. Widow Susan Robare will talk about her life one month after her husband got sick from COVID-19 and died and what she wants the community to know. And, Anthony Nickens and his mother join the conversation about surviving COVID-19 and how they’re feeling now. They join Dr. Stites and Dr. Hawkinson who talk about latest research ailments of COVID-19 from your nose to your toes.
ATTENTION media members- procedure for calling in:
The meeting is available by Zoom, both video and by phone. To join the Zoom Meeting by video, click https://kumc-ois.zoom.us/j/7828978628
Telephone dial-in Participants:
For those without Zoom, call 1-253-215-8782, meeting ID: 782 897 8628.
The feed is also available via TVU grid. The TVU source is UoK_Health and is being made available to all.
Feel free to send questions in advance to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.