Healthcare leaders and community stakeholders from South Louisiana gathered Thursday for a community conversation on COVID-19 at the South Louisiana Community Health Summit.
The summit, according to organizers, was an opportunity to highlight healthcare workers' continued efforts to combat COVID-19
"Our goal for this year's summit was to have a serious and honest conversation community conversation about COVID," said Dr. Holly Howat, Executive Director of Beacon Community Connections, which hosted the summit. "Better Together was chosen as the theme to really zero in on the fact that we are all fighting this pandemic together."
Three Chief Medical Officers from the Acadiana area spoke at the Summit - Dr. Amanda Logue with Lafayette General Health, Dr. Chuck Burnell with Acadian Ambulance, and Dr. Henry Kaufman with Our Lady of Lourdes. They discussed the challenges healthcare organizations continue to face as they work to quickly learn and implement new knowledge and practice around COVID-19. Dr. Logue emphasized the importance of communication, saying, "Whatever we are going to do to save our community, we have to be united."
Dr. Tina Stefanski spoke at the summit as well, and said the Acadiana community is benefiting from people's careful actions.
"People in this community have remained faithful to masks and being careful in public. We see the benefits of these actions."
Also speaking at the event were Dr. Sandra Brown, Dr. Ryan Bosch, and Dr. Iris Malone, who discussed health inequities that are highlighted by the pandemic. Mr. Cian Robinson, Executive Director of Innovation, Research, and Real Estate for Lafayette General Health, closed the summit by talking about future trends in healthcare as a direct result of the pandemic.
At the close of the event, Dr. Howat said, "I am glad we were able to host these community conversations to highlight the hard work of our healthcare system as well as areas that need continued work. I hope you go and continue to have these conversations."
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