Voices that Inspire

What inspires you from WFSU Public Media? Here's this week's Voices That Inspire. Hi, I'm Dr. Dean Watson. I'm the Vice President and the Chief Integration Officer at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare and the Chief Integration Officer at Capital Health Plan. I would tell you that from a positive standpoint, the state of healthcare locally is still excellent. The providers, the facilities, hospitals, the healthcare plans, we're all in good shape. Unfortunately, the virus has impacted us in a way that is limiting our ability to provide that excellent care. And what I mean by that is as we see more and more COVID cases that require admission, those limit our ability to do simple procedures, orthopedic cardiac, pulmonary neuro procedures that we would have done on a regular basis. So now we're having to cancel a lot of the elective opportunities for patients that truly need their interventions. One of the nice things about Tallahassee is that everybody knows each other. Everybody is supportive. Everybody is ready to act and engage. And that's uplifting. This is about personal responsibility. This is about taking care of each other and making sure that we get through this in a healthy way, both emotionally and physically. We need people that really want to make a difference to enter into the field because there's nothing like it. There's nothing like watching somebody that is thankful for what you've done for them. I would tell you that we will get through this current pandemic. We are so appreciative for everyone's efforts for engaging as a community, for recognizing the importance of working together. You know, there are myths out there. We are asking people, please take a moment to really investigate the evidence when it comes to vaccination. This is Dr. Dean Watson, Vice President Chief Integration Officer at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and Capitol Health Plan. Have a great day. You're listening to voices that inspire.