PEORIA, Ill. — OSF HealthCare demonstrates digital response to COVID-19.
Illinois Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (D-17) was at OSF’s Jump Trading Simulation Center and Education Center Wednesday to learn about emerging technology for response to the coronavirus.
OSF HealthCare CEO Bob Sehring said that they want to be as prepared as they can be.
“We’ll prepare for the worst, and then hope for the best. And, the things that we would love to be able to say some months from now, is
that we overprepared,” Searing said.
Chief Medical Officer of OSF HealthCare Innovation and Digital Health, Dr. John Vozenilek said the Jump Trading Simulation Center is the epicenter of COVID digital response in Peoria.
Vozenilek said OSF has created a virtual care center that provides assurances to patients who have questions, counseling and advice from a trusted source when there’s a great deal of concern and uncertainty.
“We have several layers of our response, which include wonderfully trained individuals who then can then route calls and questions if appropriate to clinicians, who provide detailed answers and routing to those patients,” Vozenilek.
As part of the tour of OSF’s Jump Trading Simulation and Education Center, medical personnel identified as Pandemic Health Workers, demonstrated a prototype kit that allows them to interface with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 without being face to face.
Congresswoman Bustos said medical professionals are the first responders when there’s a positive test for COVID-19. She said the nation needs to do a better job in making sure they have the equipment to stay safe in responding to the coronavirus.
“PPEs, or Personal Protective Equipment. Specifically, that’s the masks that are so important. But, also the protective gear that includes the shields and the gloves. All of it,” Bustos said.
Bustos said healthcare officials across the state of Illinois have told her making sure there are enough testing kits for COVID-19 is also crucial.
The House of Representatives over the weekend passed the Families First Coronavirus Act (H.R. 6201). The bipartisan legislation would extend employee sick leave benefits, expand access to free testing, and provide $1 billion in food aid to vulnerable Americans as the nation deals with the coronavirus pandemic.
Bustos said the Senate must also act on a financial aid package while the Trump administration pushes forward its economic relief plan that could total $1 trillion.
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