As the third year of COVID-19 draws to a close, learn about the future of the pandemic in latest episode of Dartmouth Health’s "The Cure Podcast"
The United States is currently experiencing an early uptick in influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections, straining healthcare systems trying to recover from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, healthcare facilities are struggling to keep up with ever-evolving guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
In the newest episode of Dartmouth Health's "The Cure Podcast," hosts Jose R. Mercado, MD, regional medical director for inpatient quality at Dartmouth Health, and Jessica L. Swain, director of infection prevention and control at Dartmouth Health, were joined by Erin E. Patnode, BSN, RN, and Mary Curtin Pierce, BSN, RN, both infection preventionists at Dartmouth Health member Cheshire Medical Center, to discuss the latest in COVID-19 infection prevention strategies. Philip Adamo, MD, MPH, section chief and medical director of Occupational and Environmental Health and Wellbeing at Dartmouth Health, also joined the conversation to discuss the evolution of occupational health with regards to COVID-19. Michael S. Calderwood, MD, MPH, chief quality officer for Dartmouth Health member Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), offered insights around vaccination and the future of the COVID-19 management.
Listen to episode 25 of "The Cure Podcast".
"The latest CDC guidance has updated to allow facilities to flex when community transmission levels are low. Most of the U.S., including New Hampshire and our neighboring states, are in the red," Patnode said. "At Dartmouth Health facilities, our guidance remains unchanged. We continue to follow the CDC guidance for masking, requiring universal source control, especially in public areas or when patients are being encountered."
"The Cure" also recently released an episode on colonoscopy screening, following the publication of European research showing a relatively similar risk of death from colorectal cancer between screened and unscreened populations. This episode features DHMC gastroenterologist Audrey H. Calderwood, MD, MS, and may be accessed here.
Subscribe to "The Cure" wherever you get your podcasts. Visit "The Cure" web page for all episodes.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and largest private employer, serves patients across New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,300 providers in nearly every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. Its network of hospitals, outpatient centers, clinics and home care facilities, spans a broad geographical area. Year after year, DHMC is named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is consistently recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, northern New England’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of less than than 60 total nationally; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital (Children’s Hospital at DHMC/CHaD) and more than 20 locations around the region; eight member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont, Hampstead, and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Dartmouth Health Home Care; Dartmouth Health Connected Care Center for Telehealth, serving patients as far away as Texas; and more than 30 primary and multi-specialty clinics across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its partnership with Dartmouth College, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and the White River Junction VA Medical Center, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials with international impact. Dartmouth Health and its more than 16,000 employees are committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in the communities it serves and to providing every patient with exceptional, state-of-the-art, personalized care. Learn more at dartmouth-health.org.