By Steve McCarthy – Chief Operating Officer, Southwest Health
Things are bad, and we need your help. As the healthcare leader in the Southwest Wisconsin area, we see the impact of what COVID-19 is doing to our community and the daily stresses placed on our local healthcare system. We understand that not everyone may get severely ill, but many will face long-term, chronic symptoms from COVID-19, and the new Omicron variant, is highly contagious.
The dedicated healthcare workers at Southwest Health are totally committed to fighting this crisis together, but we can’t bring this to an end alone. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be incredibly taxing on our staff.
Across the state and here at your local hospitals, we are still seeing a significant increase in the number of people needing care during the pandemic. Our community members still have heart attacks, broken limbs, car accidents, and cancer diagnoses while the pandemic rages on. Access to high levels of care, inpatient beds, and caregivers needed to treat patients are overwhelmed and need more support.
We have been here, protecting you throughout the pandemic, and now we are pleading with you to help limit the additional volumes of care needed. One easy way for you to help is to get vaccinated. The data is clear that fully vaccinated people, while they may catch COVID, have a very significantly decreased risk of severe illness and need for hospitalization. As your healthcare provider, we can reassure you that the vaccine is extremely safe. We care about you. We don’t want to see you or your loved ones in the hospital suffering.
Trust us, we are tired of this pandemic too. But the people in our community are struggling. We are struggling. We can no longer live like COVID-19 is a temporary annoyance. As always, we encourage you to make good healthcare decisions as they protect you and protect people around you.
What is our ask? If you haven’t been vaccinated yet, please re-consider. If you have been vaccinated, don’t wait to get your booster.
We can give instructions for testing or treating minor symptoms of COVID-19 without a doctor’s visit. If you need non-emergency care, please call before coming to the hospital. Our team can address many minor ailments over the phone. Help us help you, and we will all get through this together.
The CDC and Southwest Health recommend all adults and children over the age of 5 get the COVID-19 vaccine. If you are looking to get your booster, first dose, or get your child vaccinated against COVID-19, give Southwest Health a call at 608-348-4330, and we can help get you scheduled.
Together, we can help protect our community against COVID-19.
