By Whitney Gresham
The fallout from the coronavirus pandemic spreading across the U.S. has been hitting Michigan in general and metro Detroit in particular, like a flurry of punches to the face in a World Champion Boxing Title match.
But, throwing in the towel is not an option.
Not only has this crisis appeared to escalate so rapidly that the state and federal government can barely stay ahead of it, but it has exposed the grotesque disparities between the poor, working-class, and middle-class communities in our economy.
This also means exposing the racial disparities too and the way this unfairness will cruelly impact so many people and their families’ ability to survive this pandemic unscathed.
Dr. Tiffany Stanford, MD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer for the Wellness Plan Medical Centers of the Greater Detroit area said once this disease will leave major devastation in its wake in the poor and minority communities once it runs its course.
“For African American communities and low-income communities this virus has exposed so many issues like there really is no safety net for many people,” she said. “They are really dependent on their jobs.”
Sanford pointed out that if they miss one or more pay periods they can quickly fall into a tailspin of missing car notes, mortgage or rent payments and eventually face food insecurities.
Furthermore many of these same either do not have healthcare provided by their jobs or it is inadequate so they cannot afford to take off work if they feel ill, so they may very well unknowingly carry and spread the coronavirus among their household and workplace. And they do not have jobs that allow them to telework or even take time off, she noted.
“The virus has really exposed how dysfunctional we are in the way we care for the most vulnerable among our population,” Sanford said.
On Monday, Governor Whitmer instituted Executive Order No. 2020-21, which states that to suppress the spread of COVID-19, to prevent the state’s health care system from being overwhelmed, to allow time for the production of critical test kits, ventilators, and personal protective equipment, and to avoid needless deaths, it is reasonable and necessary to direct residents to remain at home or in their place of residence to the maximum extent feasible. This order took effect on Tuesday and continues through April 13, 2020, at 11:59 pm.
For at least the next three weeks, all Michigan businesses and operations must temporarily suspend in-person operations that are not necessary to sustain or protect life, and all Michiganders must stay in their homes unless they’re a part of that critical infrastructure workforce, engaged in an outdoor activity, or performing tasks necessary to the health and safety of themselves or their family, like going to the hospital or grocery store.
Impact on healthcare
The crackdown comes amidst healthcare facilities across the state making radical changes in the delivery of services to comply with the U.S. Center for Disease Control Centers strict new regulations encouraging clinical facilities to consider the strategies to prevent patients who can be cared for at home from coming to healthcare centers and other clinics and potentially exposing themselves or others to germs.
This includes using the telephone system to deliver messages to incoming callers about when to seek medical care at your facility, when to seek emergency care, and where to go for information about caring for a person with COVID at home. And adjusting hours of operation to include telephone triage and follow-up of patients during a community outbreak.
The CDC placed a heavy emphasis on leveraging telemedicine technologies and self-assessment tools.
Dr. Sanford from the Wellness Plan Medical Centers said all the recommendations were sound. However, they once again exposed the fundamental flaw in our country’s healthcare system because it often doesn’t account for the everyday lived reality of so many poor people who may not have access to so many things we take for granted. Like easy access to telephone service for example.
She noted to comply with the CDC recommendations nearly 100 percent of the Wellness Centers sites stopped seeing most patients in person and switched over to using the telemedicine service. They soon found that a distressing number of people in Detroit and surrounding urban communities along with others on fixed and low incomes did not have access to telephones or the internet as readily as they had assumed.
“Under these circumstances, the best way to conduct a telehealth visit is through audio and video means like a Zoom session and Facetime session. But, many people don’t have access to these types of resources,” Sanford said.
“We have many patients who don’t have consistent access to telephones or their phone numbers change a lot or might be disconnected,” she said. “They really, truly, depend on the medical community to be available to them through face-to-face interaction.”
“So that pretty much makes it difficult in this environment to provide telemedical services to that community,” Sanford said sadly.
And they face getting left behind.
