CEO’s Message

CEO’S MESSAGE

Reasons for hope and optimism

Donald J. Palmisano Jr.

dpalmisano@mag.org

When I wrote this column in May, Georgia was on the eastern half of the COVID-19 curve and in the process of “re-opening” – albeit with lots of restrictions and under some very specific conditions. Physicians were in the early stages of getting back to delivering routine and elective and non-COVID care, although they were far from full capacity to be sure. Large segments of the population were also beginning to venture out of their homes – some adhering to CDC’s social distancing and mask and other guidelines, others not so much. There was a collective sense that life was returning to some degree of normal. Yet the elephant in the room never flinched: Would we see a second wave, and would we be prepared? Our economy and health care system had just taken a strong punch to the midsection, so the big unknown was whether we could withstand another heavy blow two to three weeks later. Of course, I was concerned. That is a normal reaction during something like a pandemic. But there was also a big part of me that was growing more confident with each passing day because of the way physicians and hospitals and allied health care professionals in our state were responding to the COVID-19 outbreak. The includes the Medical Association of Georgia’s Medical Reserve Corps (MAG MRC). I received a call from MAG MRC Medical Director John S. Harvey, M.D., on March 21 (I remember the call because I was on a hike with my family at Sweetwater Creek) who informed me that the Georgia Department of Public Health and the Georgia National Guard were activating the MAG MRC to support the state’s efforts to care for COVID-19 patients – and that we needed to recruit more members. Within two weeks, and with MAG’s help, the MAG MRC’s ranks grew from about 80 volunteers to more than 300. Along with physicians, this includes PAs, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and every other conceivable kind of health care professional. Pretty powerful stuff. The MAG MRC had trained for several years to respond to an array of disasters, including hurricanes and tornadoes and a disease outbreak like COVID-19. It was prepared to deploy its members to every corner of the state to provide care for up to 72 hours, when there would be a handoff to the federal government. 6 MAG Journal And if you happened to catch the nightly news during the first several weeks of the outbreak, you might have seen the MAG MRC recognized for erecting several mobile hospitals. Throughout the pandemic, MAG MRC volunteers were sent to health care sites across the state, including the Atlanta metro area, Thomasville, Valdosta, Bibb County, Clark County, Mitchell County, Randolph County, and Tift County. In addition to the extra peace of mind, it makes me proud knowing that MAG is the only state medical association that is capable of taking this kind of direct role during this kind of statewide emergency. MAG also took steps to ensure that physicians had a direct pipeline to Georgia’s Congressional delegation, Gov. Brian Kemp, and other key stakeholders at the state and federal levels – keeping in mind that MAG President Andrew Reisman, M.D., served on one of Gov. Kemp’s COVID-19 Task Force advisory groups. One of MAG’s really noteworthy accomplishments was ensuring that the executive order that Gov. Kemp issued to deal with COVID-19 was modified to include language to protect physicians from lawsuits that are related to providing care during the pandemic. MAG also worked with AMA to enhance the federal stimulus packages, and we worked hand-in-hand with the Georgia Composite Medical Board and the Georgia Insurance Commissioner to ease restrictions on the use of telemedicine and ensure that coverage was the same as in-person visits. MAG developed a ‘COVID-19 Resources Center’ on its website (and pushed out alerts on a nearly daily basis) and increased the number of ‘Top Docs’ videocasts it produced to ensure that physicians had the latest and most pertinent information they needed to make the best possible decisions, whether the topic was PPE, testing, or federal loans. And MAG held weekly conference calls with physician leaders from health systems and rural hospitals from across the state to determine what they need if and when a second wave occurs. It feels good to know that MAG was prepared for this challenge and didn’t hesitate for one moment – and I tip my hat to the MAG MRC (and Dr. Harvey and MAG’s Fred Jones, in particular), our physician leaders, our members, and every MAG staff member for their heroic and tireless efforts.