NEENAH (NBC 26) — ThedaCare's President and CEO said the organization has taken several steps ahead of an expected rise in local coronavirus cases.
"We have to be prepared that at some point in time in the future, it could be on our shoulders as well," Dr. Imran Andrabi, ThedaCare President and CEO, said.
Dr. Andrabi said ThedaCare is running evolving, predictive models. Right now, they point to a possible surge in local cases beginning sometime in the first few weeks of April.
To prepare, Thedacare has increased telehealth, developed respiratory clinics, and expanded emergency room capacity across the organization.
"It requires multiple inputs from multiple areas, including not only understanding what's happening at ThedaCare, but what's happening in the region and the state overall so that we can see the patterns and get our people ready in advance of that particular situation happening," Dr. Andrabi said.
As ThedaCare prepares for a surge in cases officials want to remind people to practice social distancing. It can make a big difference.
"We know that this is effective," ThedaCare Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jennifer Frank said. "It's been demonstrated around the world to be an effective way of reducing infections and kind of spreading out the risk of infections."
ThedaCare has also created a community information hotline for people with questions related to the coronavirus. That number is 920-830-6877.
