SSM Health St. Clare Hospital - Fenton: Dr. Alex Garza Discusses State Of Coronavirus Pandemic With Modern Healthcare

Press release from SSM Health St. Clare Hospital - Fenton:

March 9, 2022

As COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths continue to fall, health care leaders are optimistic we could be entering the ‘endemic’ phase after what has been a grueling past two years. Dr. Alex Garza, SSM Health Chief Community Health Officer, was recently interviewed by Modern Healthcare regarding his thoughts on moving toward a new normal and the long-term effects that COVID-19 can have on health care organizations like SSM Health.

Q: Do you believe we’re at the stage of the COVID-19 pandemic where the industry can finally start to think about the new normal?

Q: A lot of routine screenings, preventative care and elective procedures were deferred over the past couple of years. How concerned are you about the long-term effects of that?

Dr. Garza: “We are going to have to at least follow some of the outcomes in the years ahead to see what sort of impact there was with delayed care. Whether it’s things like colonoscopies and other preventive measures and if that has an impact on cancer rates, mortality and things like that moving forward. It’s certainly going to be greater than zero.”

Q: Looking back at the past two years plus of the pandemic, can you see any kind of silver lining given what the country and the industry have endured?

Dr. Garza: “Early in the pandemic, we helped form the St. Louis Pandemic Task Force. It really was a coming together of all the healthcare systems here in St. Louis, along with public health and the business community. I think one of the benefits was this metropolitan area collaboration, across many different sectors, to address a common challenge.”

This press release was produced by SSM Health St. Clare Hospital - Fenton. The views expressed here are the author’s own.