A Letter from Alumni Board member Laurie Stanell

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So many of us are happy to see 2020 in the rearview mirror, but the pandemic is still ever present. We are hopeful that the vaccines will slowly give us protection against this horrible virus. I propose to you a somewhat trite New Year’s resolution: “I will take care of my total health and well-being this year, regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

We have seen over 350,000 of our friends, family, and acquaintances succumb to COVID-19, but many people faced other health challenges, which in some cases were worsened due to their fear of the virus keeping them from seeking regular care from their physicians, dentists, psychologists, and other healthcare providers.

Healthcare providers have taken painstaking steps to ensure their patients are safe. Vaccinations, mental health checkups, and dental care should not wait, and certain screenings—such as for cancer and cardiovascular health, and colonoscopies—are critical. You do not want to end up where you or a loved one is in a hospital because you opted against routine care.

Many healthcare providers have instituted telehealth to help patients overcome their fears, and still see patients virtually to determine if they need to be seen in person.

Management of chronic conditions is critical. If you have concerns about visiting your healthcare provider’s office, let him or her know. Most providers are taking precautions to limit the number of patients in their office at any one time. Prescreening and temperature checks are being performed. Dental offices are opting against using ultrasonic cleaning devices, to curtail the potential spread of viruses in the air. And high-speed suction and HEPA filter UV air filtration devices are present throughout these spaces. Healthcare providers’ offices are remarkably safe.

We, the Alumni Society Board of the Eberly College of Science, wish to send a huge thank you to all of the frontline workers, healthcare providers, and researchers in this fight against COVID-19.

We encourage you to take care of your whole self this year and try to make sure your loved ones do the same.

Happy 2021!

Laurie Anne Stanell, D.M.D.