But before he could even hug his
mother, he needed to spend that
two weeks alone.
“The thought of bringing that to
a family member or loved one, it’s
more than I want to deal with right
now,” he said.
“Isolating is protecting the people
you love. Not you.”
Some of the precautions may
seem a little bit extreme, he said. “I
make take it a little more seriously
than others, but right now it’s all we
have.”
The physician decided to make
the transition back to Kentucky
right in the middle of the COVID-19
outbreak, after having spent three
and a half years working in Alaska.
He said that even though Alaska
had been rewarding, a chance to
practice “real rural medicine” in
such a remote area, Kentucky had
always been pulling him back.
For more than a year, Dr. Flynn
had been working on coming back
to this area. The opportunity came,
but so did the virus outbreak.
18 • I n T ouch with S outhern K entucky
Before returning to Kentucky,
Flynn was working in a cough and
cold clinic, helping to rule people
out for having the virus.
To get home, he had to fly through
several airports in “hotspot” cities.
So, following the guidelines of
Governor Andy Beshear, Flynn
decided to hole up for two weeks
before making any visits.
He said he contacted the Hampton
Inn ahead of time to let them know
his situation.
“They’ve been very
accommodating,” he said of the
hotel and its staff. They placed him
in a corner room away from other
guests, and staff have always been
friendly and helpful, he said.
In return, Flynn said he has been
keeping his own cleaning supplies
on hand and cleaning his room,
since housekeeping can’t come in.
He always wears a mask out in
public, and those times he needs
to interact with staff – asking for
quarters to do laundry, for example
– he has kept his distance.
He is thankful that he has not had
any symptoms during his stay, he
said.
Though he cannot be close to
family, he did have one day where
he sat outside and ate pizza with
his mother – with the two of them
sitting 10 yards away from each
other.
But beyond that, he has waited
patiently for his quarantine period
to end.
Dr. Flynn started out as a student
at Somerset High School before
attending Centre College in Danville,
majoring in economics.
Out of school, he began working
as a pharmacy representative, going
into doctor’s offices and seeing the
kind of work they did.
Somewhere along the line, he
started thinking he might be able
to do it, too. He credited Dr. Patrick
Jenkins and Dr. Joseph Weigel for
finally pushing him in that direction.
He went to medical school at the
University of Kentucky, then trained
at the University of Michigan.
M ay 2020