The Impact of Coronavirus on New England: The Healthcare Provider’s Perspective
Virtual Town Hall | April 16, 2020
Each of the presenters spoke with candor, offering descriptive and insightful comments regarding the actions being taken—and the lessons being learned—as healthcare professionals adjust to the challenges presented by COVID-19.
While each speaker addressed a different perspective—epidemiology, hospital response, impact on private medical practice, mental health support, protocols for ethical decision-making—it is clear that the commitment and partnership among healthcare professionals today will be a powerful force in defeating the virus.
For more an informative overview of COVID-19, you might also be interested in this short video created and produced by a Yale Neuroscience Ph.D. student designed to instruct a wide audience from children to adults to clinicians a bit rusty on virology.
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Speakers:
- Dr. Steven Bird ’91 – Professor of Emergency Medicine and Clinician, UMass Memorial Medical Center, Worcester, MA. Steve works nights in the Emergency Department and can only participate briefly at the beginning of the meeting.
- Dr. Louise Dembry – Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology at Yale University. Dr. Dembry is currently Chief, Healthcare Epidemiology for the VA CT Healthcare System. Her main interests include the control of transmission of antibiotic-resistant organisms in healthcare settings, patient safety, and healthcare facility preparedness.
- A perspective from Maine – Dr. August Valenti ’77 & Dr. Robin Noble ’91. Dr. Valenti is the Maine Medical Center’s Hospital Epidemiologist, receiving regular updates from the CDC. Dr. Noble is a gynecologist and medical director at Intermed, a large multi-specialty group.
- Dr. Lars Richardson – Orthopedic surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital will address the impact of COVID-19 in Boston.
- Patricia (“Pat”) Rehmer, MSN, ACHE – Former Connecticut Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services and now President of the Hartford Healthcare Behavioral Health Network and a Senior Vice President of Hartford Healthcare. Adjunct Lecturer in psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine.
- Mark Mecurio, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, Chief of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, and the Director of the Program for Biomedical Ethics at Yale School of Medicine.
Moderator: Michael Kurs ’77 – Attorney at Pullman & Comley (Hartford, Connecticut) has decades of experience representing a wide range of health care clients including hospitals, nursing homes, surgical centers, ambulance organizations, insurance companies, managed care companies, physicians, nurses, and other health care providers.
