Chancellor Don Elliman welcomed 2,000 guests to a live panel discussion titled “Life on the Front Lines of COVID-19 with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus” on May 7.
The discussion featured campus leaders who shared new insights on our rapidly accelerated approach to clinical trials, shifts in patient care and engagement, and how partners across campus are working together more seamlessly now than ever before. Answering questions from Elliman and audience participants, the panel demonstrated the campus’s expertise and its leadership role in addressing the pandemic.
Elliman noted the importance of philanthropy in allowing our campus to respond quickly to the changing needs of the crisis, highlighting the nearly $2.5 million that has been raised since mid-March to support COVID-19 relief efforts. These funds provide an array of services from mental health resources to healthcare workers to research support in building a biobank and investigating a vaccine.
“We hear the expression again and again that we are all in this together. It almost gets to the point where it sounds trite, but it’s not – it’s true. We couldn’t do this without your support, and it means a lot,” Elliman noted to the attendees.
The panelists also addressed how the CU Anschutz Medical Campus is uniquely positioned to lead during this time of crisis. “We’ve got this,” noted Kathleen Combs, a nurse who has worked on the ICU floor for 17 years.
Panel participants included Jean Kutner, professor of Internal Medicine at CU and chief medical officer at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital; Richard Zane, professor and chair of Emergency Medicine at CU and chief innovation officer at UCHealth; Thomas Campbell, professor of Infectious Diseases; and Kathleen Combs, ICU nurse at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital.
Guest contributor: Carolyn Wilson, CU Anschutz Office of Advancement