Director's Comments
Amazing NMVAHCS Team,
The COVID19 pandemic is the latest challenge
that has been bestowed upon us. Despite all
that has transpired, I know that we will
prevail. Upfront, I want to thank you for being
an active part of the solution. Those of you
who are detailed with getting the
choreography of these moving pieces
flowing, we couldn’t have done it without your
help and invaluable skill-sets.
In the January edition of the RoundUp, we
reflected on our successes in 2019 and looked
ahead to the great work planned for 2020. We
could not have predicted what is currently
happening around the world, let alone within
our communities with the rapid advance of
COVID-19. Like you, I have questions. What
does this mean for our families, communities,
country and even the world? While, we are
still learning about this pandemic, including
the pace of the spread and the individual
risks, I am confident in our ability to respond
creatively to these new challenges. Our goal
is to prevent COVID-19 infections from
spreading within VA, while maintaining our
usual high level of care for all Veterans. To do
this, it is important for us all to work together
to protect ourselves from infection, keep our
facilities clean, follow CDC and Department of
Health guidelines to evaluate and care for
Veterans with potential exposure and
symptoms of respiratory illness, and maintain
our focus on doing our jobs to the best of our
abilities.
While it is impossible to thank everyone
specifically because it takes every occupation
to make this health care system work, I do
wish to recognize our clinical staff who are at
the front of this challenge and for stepping up
in so many ways to ensure our Veterans
continue to receive the care they need. To all
of you who are taking care of patients with
telephone visits and telehealth, thank you as I
know this means so much to our patients. To
our staff who are covering the initial entry
points and thereby properly directing the
traffic on our campus and the folks
conducting the secondary screens we are all
grateful. We appreciate you during these most
difficult times.
We are preparing for the upcoming surge and
while we have predictive models there is still
some question as to how much of a surge we
will have. We are moving in the direction of
preparing for the most challenging scenario.
As we prepare for and face our challenges, I
know that when we get past this it will make
our country’s health care system better and
this includes the VA and our local health care
systems. We will have the wisdom of
experience that will directly impact our future
operations. This will make us better.
As you take care of our patients and your
teammates please do not forget to take care
of yourselves. Take time to recharge and to
recognize all we have to be thankful for.
I am thankful for you.
~ Andrew Welch, Director