NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (GPH)-At a news conference Wednesday, Great Plains Health along with representatives from the primary care community, the public school and the local health department demonstrated a united front to stress to the community the importance of wearing masks to help mitigate the further spread of COVID-19.
Shannon Vanderheiden, WCDHD executive director, credited the community with their early compliance in mitigation strategies to help keep our cases down in the first four months. “However in the last few months, we have seen a community decline in individual ownership, which has significantly impacted our communities in terms of increases in cases, hospitalizations and deaths,” said Vanderheiden.
Dr. Jeff Brittan with Midlands Family Medicine encouraged the public to look at the science. “We need to concern ourselves with science and not politics, and the science says that we should be wearing masks,” he said. “With this particular infection, you’ve got to do what you can do and wearing the mask is what we can do to prevent spread.”
Dr. Ned Mack borrowed a quote from Chris Christie who spent a week in an intensive care unit after contracting COVID-19, he said, "When you get this disease, it hits you how easy it is to prevent. We are asked to wear cloth over our mouth and nose, wash our hands and avoid crowds. These minor inconveniences can save your life, your neighbors, and the economy. Seldom has so little been asked for so much benefit.”
Dr. Mack finished his remarks by saying, "Our strength during this crisis is crucial to our own lives as well as the lives of our families, friends and neighbors. The doctors and nurses of this hospital are risking their lives for us. They are counting on you and me to be a force in moving this community's COVID crisis in a better direction and the way to do that has been made very clear.”
Dr. Emily Jones shared a personal story about how hospital capacity impacts patients that are sick with other ailments, not just COVID. “This is about more than just those that contract COVID,” she said. “We know a lot of people are surviving this, but there are a lot of hospitalizations across the state because of COVID and that is concerning. When others can’t get the care they need because hospitals are full.”
Continuing the message of the importance of masks, Great Plains Health chief executive officer, Mel McNea stressed the impacts on healthcare workers and providers when masks are not worn.
“My concern is not bed capacity, my concern is nursing capacity,” he said. “As a community, we cannot afford to overwhelm this healthcare system. We have patients that need hospitalization. I’m asking your help because someday you’re going to need our help. I’m worried about not having the staff to care for patients. We need to take action now and be respectful of our healthcare providers. In May, there were 232 hospitalizations, today Nebraska hospitalizations are over 436.”
McNea closed the media conference underscoring the importance of the community’s role in mitigating the spread of COVID19 by,
· Wearing a mask
· Maintaining social distance
· Avoiding large gatherings
· Staying home when you are sick