Newsworthy

Dear Community Partners,

The year 2020 was a challenging one with the COVID-19 pandemic impacting nearly every facet of our lives. We pined for 2021 to get everything back to “normal.”

Now the delta variant of the virus is spreading through our region and we are faced with the reality that the pandemic isn’t gone. Some people are still reeling from issues rooted from the past year with job changes or loss, family challenges, schedule changes with schools closing or going online, illnesses or fear of COVID-19 infections, and community tensions from conflicting opinions about vaccines, facemasks and more.

“We need to be responsive to people. They have already been in this for a year and a half,” says Brad Chapin, Clinical Director of Stormont Vail Behavioral Health Services. “We need to talk about what they’ve seen and experienced and acknowledge that.”

What’s different about the COVID-19 pandemic compared to other challenges or catastrophic events is three-fold, according to Brad.

• The breadth of the pandemic. It has had wide impact affecting many areas of our lives, not just one part. It also has impacted people around the world, not just one region.
• The intensity of the pandemic. It’s been a threat or challenge to us physically as well as socially and emotionally.
• The length of the pandemic. It’s been of long duration, with no defined end in sight.

“Not a lot of people have had experience in how to manage a challenge,” Brad says, especially one of this magnitude. He notes there is no playbook for a pandemic. Even if there was, not everyone is starting at the same place.

Brad says people recognize and reflect on the pandemic experience in different ways – through stories, memorials and other expressions. “It’s really important to acknowledge this is a big deal,” he says.

It’s also important to gain an understanding of how we respond to challenges – in healthy or unhealthy ways – and to learn tools to help us cope. Tools include physical, emotional and cognitive regulation skills that can help us develop self-awareness of our fight or flight response and help us examine how core beliefs affect our responses. These are taught in a program called Skills for Recovery and Resilience developed by Brad and Brian Avila, Wellpower supervisor. Team members interested in the program should contact [email protected].

“We have a great deal of knowledge and ability to create balance and a recipe for dealing with all of these challenges we’ve experienced,” Brad says. “We can learn and practice healthy ways to reduce reactivity in the face of challenges.”

Brad said Behavioral Health Services has worked diligently to meet increased demands for mental health services since the pandemic arrived. This has included the addition of telehealth outpatient services and a professional assistance line for health care workers needing urgent support.

Here are today’s updates:

• “To Your Health” on WIBW-TV Tonight
• COVID-19 Updates

“To Your Health” on WIBW-TV Tonight

Dr. Randall Schumacher, pediatrician, will discuss kids and their return to school on tonight’s “To Your Health” segment at 10 p.m. on WIBW-TV, Channel 13. The segment will typically repeat at 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. Fridays on 13 News This Morning and be posted on wibw.com.

COVID-19 Updates

Here’s a look at today’s COVID-19 metrics:

• We have 26 inpatients who are COVID-19 positive today.

• We have 41 COVID-19 positive patients in the outpatient Enhanced Primary Care program.
• The percentage of patients testing positive for COVID-19 at Stormont Vail facilities is 12.4%.
• We have administered 86,747 vaccinations, which included first and second doses of the vaccine. These were first provided through our Vaccine Clinic at the Stormont Vail Events Center that closed July 9.
• COVID-19 vaccines are now available through the Stormont Vail Retail Pharmacy, 2252 S.W. 10^th Ave.
• All Kansans age 12 and older are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

• To schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment:
  • Go through your Stormont Vail MyChart
  • Use the online scheduling assistant at www.stormontvail.org/covid19/vaccine
  • Call (785) 270-4786
• Walk-ins are welcome from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• Appointments take approximately 30 minutes, including a 15-minute required observation.

We together,
Robert Kenagy, MD