Douglas County Physician Group Issues Letter to the Community

Dear patients and neighbors, Douglas County’s community of healthcare providers are being tested like never before. COVID-19 is a unique and devastating disease that is causing death and suffering like none of us has ever seen. We’ve watched hospital beds and the ICU overflow with patients, elective procedures cancelled, and healthcare resources become scarce. This is undeniably deadlier than the worst flu year for a hundred years and it continues to get worse. As members of this community, we and our families are getting sick too. It is heartbreaking to see patients fall critically ill and being unable to save them, and to know that those who are admitted to the ICU may not ever walk out. It is discouraging to see our warnings and entreaties continue to go unheeded or contradicted, which has led to our county becoming one of the sickest in the nation. We strongly support the use of vaccines as the best protection against COVID-19. Vaccines clearly prevent the worst manifestations of this terrible disease. There is nothing more disheartening than to see patients struggling with serious complications that could have been prevented. Improving vaccination rates will free up our hospital resources, allowing our patients to get the elective surgeries and other care they need. Vaccines will also help end the economic devastation this pandemic has brought to our community. Professional medical societies have unanimously spoken out in support of vaccination. We strongly oppose the use of unproven treatments for COVID-19 that are not effective and put our patients at risk for unnecessary complications. We also oppose the promotion of these experimental treatments in a way that obscures the risks and exaggerates the potential benefits. It is inappropriate and unethical to subject patients to experimental treatments without informed consent and outside of randomized controlled trials. As healthcare providers we are obligated to heed the guidelines of our professional organizations and to use the best evidence available to guide the treatment of our patients. We strongly support the use of masks indoors and in crowded areas by all who can wear them. Masks reduce the spread of the virus and reduce the risks for everyone. We support and applaud the efforts of our local public health officials who have worked tirelessly to protect and educate our community. They have faced incredible challenges and yet remain committed to the challenge. We will continue to follow their guidance and support them in the measures they have enacted to protect our community. We, the physicians of Douglas County, share the commitments we’ve outlined above. Standing in solidarity against this pandemic will strengthen our resolve to continue our work in the face of continued tragedy for our community and our patients. Respectfully, Michael Krnacik, MD, PhD Bart Bruns, MD DCIPA Board Chairman DCIPA CEO Sarah Agsten, DO Hennie Abrio, MD Faye Ameredes, DO Tyler Andrews, MD Kate Bayliss, MD Jacob Benford, MD Heidi Beery, MD Phillip Benedetti, MD Brandon Bishop, DPM Joseph M. Black, MD Diane Bolduc, MD Kurt Brickner, DO Gregory S. Brigham, PhD, ABPP Gary Bronstein, MD Craig Brooksby, MD Bart Bruns, MD Leonardo Campos, MD Kirsten Carhart, NP, CNM Erin Cassidy, NP Laurance W. Choate, MD Julia Coppi, MD Jeff Croy, MD Bob Dannenhoffer, MD Kevin Dean, MD Marcy E. Dean, MSN, FNP-C Kanani Dilcher, MD Gerald Engstrom, MD Joshua Fisher, MD, MPH, MSc Shelli Flynn, MD Steven Follett, MD Wade Fox, MD Michael Fucci, DO Jay Gade, MD Christine Garwood, FNP Tim Gladding, MD Sylvia Gosline, MD Razvan Gosman, MD Andrea Gray, MD Jason Gray, MD Aric Groshong, MD Anjali Gupta, MD Wilson Gutierrez, MD Allen Hack, MD Nathan Hamm, DMD Mark Hamm, DMD Bret Hansen, MD Dustin Harn, PA-C, MSPAS Candace Hatton, FNP Emmanuelle Hebert, FNP Marie Hebert, MD Rachel Hebert, FNP Luke Herscher, DO Lisa Hobart, PA-C Jim Hoyne, DO Travis Inglis, DO Laurentiu Istrate, MD Neha Jain, MD Chris Jannelli, MD Gerry Jaworski, MD Jens Johansson, DO Angela Jones, MD Layne Jorgensen, DO Faarina Khan, MD Ovais Khan, MD Robert Kloepper, MD Michael Krnacik, MD, PhD Arul Krishnan, MD Anna Kulacz, MPH, PA-C Neil Kumar, MD Doug Larson, MD Elliott Lange, MD Joel Lee, MD Michael Llewellyn, MD Theresa M. Lundy, MD Jacob McAvoy, PA-C Charles McGlade, MD George Middlekauff, MD Marti Mitchell, DO Glen Monteiro, MD, MPH Subhajit Mukherjee, MD, PhD Jenni Nix, MD Siobhan O’Reilly, MD, MPH Elizabeth Oler, MD Jolanta Olson, MD Eric Ory, MD Edward Ottenheimer, MD Sandesh Pandit, MD Britain Parrish, MD Michael Peterson, PA-C Claire Pollard, MD Clem Pope, PA-C Mark Ramirez, MD Jay Richards, DO Julee Richards, MD David Rickman, MD April Riverland, PA-C Brad Robinson, MD Jonathan Russell, MHS, PA-C Rishi Saigal, MD Cary Sanders, MD Preeti Satyanarayana, MD Christine Seals, MD Brad Seely, MD Cody Seeley, DO Polly Sepulvado, MD Linda Sewell, MD Alex Shaffer, PA-C Larry Sharp, DO Marcus Sickelton, PA-C Pushpinder Singh, NP Melissa Snell, DO Brent Soder, MD Chris Spence, MD Chris Smith, MD Cordell Smith, DPM Ahmad B. Stanackzai, MD, MBA Cindy Steele, FNP-BC Clayton Stuart, DO Dan Sulitzer, DO Anandita Tiwari, MD Keneilwe Tlaang, MD Rodney Todd, MD Doru Totoian, MD Micah Tovey, DPM William Townsend, MD Sharon Trammell, PA John Traul, MD Fred Van Dis, MD Michael VanAnrooy, MD Courtney Virgilio, MD Vanessa Vu, MD, PhD, CASC Victor Wallenkampf, MD Jonathan Waller, MD, MPH Simran Waller, MD MPH Jerry Warren, MD Joshua Weese, MD Kaylan Weese, MD Jason Wilks, DPM Steven Williams, MD Susan Williams, MD