NSU kicks off series on pandemic, health, government

Apr. 10—On Friday morning, the Institute of Global Security & Comparative Justice Systems at Northeastern State University began a three-part webinar series titled "A Continuing Reflection on the Pandemic: Health, Government and Education."

Held on Zoom and free to all interested, the first webinar, "Reflections on the continuing pandemic — Health system response, prevention, treatment, and vaccines," included four experts from the health field.

Panel members included Dr. Bruce Dart, executive director of the Tulsa City-County Health Department; Wayne Coldwell, Cherokee Nation Health Services deputy executive director of internal operations; Dr. Stevan Lahr, medical director of Family & Children Services; and James Thompson, Oklahoma State Department of Health regional director.

Dr. Rebekah Doyle, assistant institute coordinator and institute marketing, moderated the panel discussion with assistance from James "Buster" Hall, assistant professor of criminal justice at NSU-Broken Arrow.

Each panelist had the opportunity to present updates from their organization, and audience questions were answered at the end of the webinar, which lasted an hour and a half.

Thompson said next week will mark four months of OHSD administering vaccines.

"We've done over 2 million doses. That's a huge accomplishment. We've come a long way in vaccinating and decreasing the number of the number of people with symptoms," he said.

While Thompson worries that people will begin to start to relax in their preemptive measures, he said good things happening include the state opening up vaccinations to nonresidents; the potential for the vaccine to be approved for ages 12-15; and the impact the point of distribution (PODs) operation has had on the ability to vaccinate residents. While "mega-POD" vaccination events are still being planned, Thompson said there has been success with county health departments getting many people vaccinated, and they will begin sending strike teams out to communities. This will allow OSDH to set up at fire departments, churches, nursing homes and other locations in order for residents to have more access to vaccines.

Thompson explained there was a rise in the count of the total number of infected residents between January and April due to laboratory errors. But, he said the vaccination efforts and continued safety precautions have moved more counties into the green and yellow levels of the COVID-19 Risk Level System.

"We have made tremendous strides, but we can't get relaxed," said Thompson. "Oklahoma has been a tremendous leader, not only in the states, but the world."

Coldwell began his update from CNHS by talking about the numbers of Cherokee speakers who died during the pandemic, which has been 49. He also discussed the COVID-19 task force, new projects, and workplace updates. As of April 7, CNHS had administered 50,000 vaccine doses, which Coldwell said was a big accomplishment.

"The task force continues meeting to identify and remove barriers to services for both patients and employees," he said. "Communication has been important. We've had lots of vaccine hesitancy. A high percentage of our staff have been vaccinated."

Surveys concerning attitudes about the vaccine and emails encouraging staff to be vaccinated have been sent out. The Cherokee Nation Film Office is also producing a project to help educate the public.

While many staff members had been working from out of the office, most returned to the buildings in March. The patient monitoring team that was assisting with testing has moved to help with vaccinations.

CNHS has drive-thru vaccination opportunities coming up, Coldwell said, and the task force will continue to plan and develop goals for the future while evaluating successes and challenges.

The Tulsa Health Department has also been busy, according to Dart, who said they are constantly adapting to changes, especially in politics.

"To start something from scratch and educate the public has really been a challenge. In public health we're used to politics, but it's difficult when a pandemic gets political," said Dart. "I can't express enough what Tulsa Health Department staff have put into this. They follow the mission of putting people first. There have been opportunities in crisis, and we've grown in areas we didn't have expertise in."

Spring break did bring an uptick in cases, Dart said, but it is too early to see what the Easter weekend will bring.

Dart announced a community vaccination center which is opening on the Tulsa Community College Northeast Campus April 21. The site will be a partnership with THD, OSHD, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Tulsa Area Emergency Management Agency, Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, the Oklahoma National Guard, and state and local partners. The center will be able to administer up to 21,000 vaccinations per week for eight weeks, and it will be open seven days a week.

Other topics Dart mentioned included ongoing sewage testing for the virus; vaccination rates going up; the development of relationships with new organizations; and herd immunity.

"It's important that as we see vaccination rates go up and cases go down, that we don't let our foot off the gas. Even after being vaccinated, wear a mask," said Dart. "How close are we to herd immunity in Oklahoma? We're inching to be a quarter of the way there. It's our hope we get there by the end of the summer."

Moving on to mental health, Lahr first mentioned how momentous the past year has been.

"I encourage everyone to step back and realize how historic this is. It's part of our shared history, our shared experience," said Lahr.

Many signposts for normality have disappeared since March 2020, and crisis services have changed, Lahr said. A rise in the need for mental health services has increased telemedicine, and his organization is currently hiring.

"Seventy percent of people are wanting to do virtual visits now. We have all come to accept that virtual visits are here. Before the pandemic, we had one telemed doctor; now, we;re all telemed," Lahr said.

Along with expansions for family services and crisis services, Lahr said they are increasing the number of in-house beds and have been distributing iPads to patients without devices. The tablets allow patients to have telemed appointments and they have applications on them to help increase well-being.

"In March, we had to change really fast. Some of that change has been really good. We will continue with the technology," said Lahr.

On the down side, Lahr is already seeing an increase in patients with substance abuse and psychological issues. With new research showing that a third of all COVID-19 survivors could develop mental and neurological problems, Lahr said there will be an increase of people needing services.

Doyle, who had neurological issues when he got the coronavirus, asked Lahr for some recommendations for those looking to increase their mental health and stability.

"Stress management is always important, but infinitely more right now," said Lahr. "Look at close relationships. Virtual has saved up in so many ways, but it's not a replacement for those face-to-face relationships."

Other suggestions include getting restorative sleep by having a good sleep pattern; decreasing stimulates and screen time; exercising at least four times a week; and connecting to nature.

As Lahr was the only panelist left in the videoconference, he answered the numerous questions Doyle had received from audience members.

Check it out

The webinar series will continue on April 23 at 10 a.m. with a discussion on elected officials and others in leadership roles during the pandemic. For more information and access to registration links, visit https://academics.nsuok.edu/extendedlearning/theinstitute.aspx.