Dr. Lee Newman, an expert in epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health, was asked how he would respond to members of the public who suspect the coronavirus crisis is an overreaction or media hype. “If you don’t believe it now, wait a few days. The only problem is we can’t afford to have you wait a few days.”
“It’s not necessary for most people with COVID-19 to come into the hospital. If people aren’t sick enough to be in the hospital, if they can manage their illness at home, keep themselves away from others until the illness resolves, then that will help protect the people who have to be in the hospital, like people with cancer and other illnesses, that are more susceptible,” says Dr. Thomas Campbell, professor of Infection Disease at the University of Colorado.
“I think there’s a lot of fear over the coronavirus because it seems very new and it’s spreading very quickly,” says Dr. Charles Little, Medical Director of Emergency Preparedness for UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital. “I think it’s important to keep it in context. We’ve just come through flu season, where we’ve had tens of thousands of deaths from that. We’re not nearly at that level of deaths from the coronavirus, even worldwide, so it’s important to keep it in perspective.”
UCHealth said it’s running exercises to specifically address what should happen if a patient with the novel coronavirus, COVID-19 gets admitted.“Now it if it comes back and the patient does have it. What we’ll do is, we’ll isolate them in our special unit. We’re one of the few adult centers here in the state that has a bio containment unit. And we have staff that are able to handle any of our highly infectious diseases, whether it’s coronavirus or ebola. And then we’ll manage them and care for them until they’re ready to get discharged,” Clinton Anderson, UCHealth Emergency Manager, said.
Access to certain things in the home, whether it be firearms or medication, can be dangerous for someone at risk of suicide. Now researchers with the University of Colorado School of Medicine at the Anschutz Medical Campus, have created a free tool to help address the issue. This week, researchers and clinicians released the online resource called Lock to Live. The idea is that by reducing access to firearms or medication in the home, people can help to possibly save the life of someone in crisis.
A veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who suffered two traumatic brain injuries while overseas now serves as a resource for others trying to recover from the same experience at the Marcus Institute for Brain Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. James Kelly is the executive director of the Marcus Institute for Brain Health on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Milo said Kelly helped him to recover from his traumatic brain injury (TBI) and that eventually lead him to work for the doctor at the institute.
A partnership between the Sheridan School District and CU’s College of Nursing is improving access to health care for students. The reach of the medical staff goes far beyond those appointments. Integrating the clinic into the Sheridan School campus provides access that Superintendent Pat Sandos says is invaluable for his community. “We have 1,350 kids, about 85% are free and reduced in some form and then we have a homeless population that’s about one out of four kids,” he said.
Every 40 hours, a Colorado woman dies from ovarian cancer. It accounts for more than 22,000 deaths worldwide each year. Now, new research done at University of Colorado School of Medicine finds women who use intrauterine devices (IUDs) for birth control may be lowering their risk of ovarian cancer.
