AtSanford Health,addressing health care needs is not something that should be complicated by the presence of the coronavirus.
In other words, it is OK to keep regularly scheduled appointments. In fact, it is encouraged.
The national conversation regarding the coronavirus is shifting from the disease itself to the gradual reopening of our communities. Meanwhile, within the region, states have increased testing, monitoring and tracing of the virus.
“It’s very important for people to understand that our hospitals and clinics are safe places,” saidDr. Jeremy Cauwels, Sanford Health senior vice president of clinic quality.
“We have the ability to keep our COVID patients in one part of the hospital and the patients without COVID in a different part of the hospital. We now have the testing ability, the protective equipment and all of the things we need to appropriately screen and separate those people.”
Learn more:Health care during COVID-19
That includes handling a “second surge” of the virus that health officials expect as a result of the gradual reopening of stores, restaurants and other public venues. It is an unavoidable part of the process.
“We’ve planned for this. Our modeling has predicted this,” saidSanford Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allison Suttle. “We do have capacity to handle what comes our way. We have flattened the curve.”
Health care needs amid pandemic
In this case, effectively flattening the curve at Sanford Health comes with assurances that there should be no hesitation in seeking out medical attention.
“We’re able to say with a fair bit of certainty that we’re going to have enough people and beds and places to take care of people,” Dr. Cauwels said. “The things that were slow initially were things like protective equipment — masks and gowns and things like that — were disrupted because many of those things were made in China. The places that made them that aren’t in China weren’t prepared to make up the difference.”
因此，该地区成为一个地方，人们被鼓励呆在家里，实践社交距离。
“This time that people have spent indoors hunkering down for the last month has really bought us the time to make sure we have all the pieces in place,” Dr. Cauwels said. “Now we know we have what we need to care of people.”
Your medical history
Maintaining appointments and seeking care for nonpandemic issues is especially important for people with ongoing medical issues that demand regular monitoring.
“Everybody has come into this pandemic with their own medical history,” Dr. Cauwels said. “For some people that is very benign, and for others that is a lot of medical history. Those kinds of medical problems are exactly the things that put you at a higher risk for complications if you get COVID.”
Managing conditions like diabetes, heart failure or high blood pressure is as important as avoiding the coronavirus itself. Avoiding medical attention for something like heart failure, for instance, can make you more vulnerable should you become infected with the virus.
“If you don’t know how your heart is functioning, if you don’t know if your medications are right, the odds of you ending up in the hospital during this two- or three-month period where COVID is running through the community is extremely high,” Dr. Cauwels said. “Checking in with your doctor and making sure your heart failure is being managed is absolutely critical.”
Decline in vaccinations
在全国范围内，医疗服务提供者看到了健康儿童护理就诊人数的令人不安的下降。特别是疫苗接种，已经成为一个麻烦的地方。
In the month of April alone, vaccination rates dropped off by 50 percent from a year ago within the Sanford Health system. Numbers for annual screenings for cancer have also declined.
“The American Academy of Pediatrics has put out several articles indicating they’re very concerned about vaccine-preventable illnesses causing outbreaks,” said Dr. Vanessa Nelson, a pediatrician at the Sanford Children’s Clinic in Bismarck, North Dakota.
“In Bismarck, we’ve seen whooping cough in the last month. That can be fatal to infants. For all of the other vaccine-preventable illnesses, as well, we want to avoid outbreaks.”
Well child checkups are not just about vaccines, either. Dr. Nelson and her support staff have been busy fielding questions from parents who wonder if it’s OK to bring their children into her clinic.
然后，那些好奇的父母了解了纳尔逊医生诊所的所有预防措施，以将大流行疾病与非大流行疾病区分开来。他们听说工厂每天都要进行彻底的清洁。此外，他们还听说，等待疫情人数改善是一种具有复杂性的策略。
“当一切重新开放时，将会有很大的需求，”纳尔逊说。“就像美发沙龙一样，当它们开业时，等待的人会很多。所以，如果你现在不来诊所，当情况开始恢复正常时，你可能会急着进来。”
‘We don’t have to do everything face-to-face’
On the plus side, dealing with the pandemic has been accompanied by the increased popularity of telemedicine. This includes use of virtual care for both COVID-19 and everyday concerns. There were more than 34,000 video visits and 4,500 e-visits within Sanford Health completed in April alone.
“We’ve learned that we don’t have to do everything face-to-face,” Dr. Cauwels said. “We can get a lot of medicine done in a phone call or a video visit to help a patient without necessarily coming in for it. I think the part that is most telling, as we continue to improve, is that people are not going to have drive two and a half hours to see a specialist quite as often. That could be a game-changer for a lot of people, especially those with limited mobility.”
What health insurance covers
记住，你的健康保险可能包括这些检查。向你的保险公司查询;许多人会为健康检查支付100%的费用。For example,Sanford Health Plancovers the following preventive care, health screenings and wellness benefits:
- Annual wellness exam
- Basic metabolic panel
- Body mass index (BMI)
- Immunizations
- Breast cancer screening (women age 40 and older)
- Cervical cancer screening (women age 21 and older)
- Colorectal cancer screening (men and women age 50 and older)
- Prostate cancer screening (men age 50 and older)
- Depression screening
- Heart health and blood pressure
- Sexually transmitted infection screening
- Exclusive nutrition and fitness programs and discounts
- Nutrition, exercise and stress consultations
- Support to quit tobacco
- Wellness coaching
- Free online wellness portal
Maintaining caution
Not everything is going back to the way it was. That goes for hospital guidelines — pandemic visitor policies are still in place at Sanford — and for those negotiating everyday life as healthy as possible.
“如果我在公共场所，我仍然会戴着口罩，”考威尔斯说。“洗手仍然是非常重要的。我非常喜欢新西兰描述我们如何开始这个过程的方式。这是一个泡沫。我们一直在处理一个只有你家人的小泡沫。现在我们可以把泡泡的大小增加一点，容纳更多的人。但我们不想从一个小泡沫变成完全没有泡沫。”
随着社区在克服大流行环境方面向前迈进，将情况恢复到冠状病毒之前的状态需要一段时间。适应这些条件不应包括根据冠状病毒情况决定是否就医。
“Your health care needs are going to continue on,” Dr. Cauwels said. “It might be a mammogram or a colon cancer screening, or if you’re a kid, getting a physical for sports or an immunization. All of those things continue to be needs. We want to make sure you’re healthy and doing as well as you can be even during the pandemic. Sanford is open and ready to help you with those needs.”
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- COVID-19常见问题:我们都应该戴手套吗?
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Posted InBemidji,Bismarck,Coronavirus,Fargo,Flu,Imaging,Immunizations,Sioux Falls,Virtual Care,Wellness
