HealthONE Experts Host Town Hall About Staying Healthy During Safer-At-Home Phase

DENVER (CBS4) - With so many physicians fielding questions of concern surrounding COVID-19, two top Denver doctors decided to create some time for the public to have an open discussion.

"One of the purposes of this town hall is to have a discussion about those (concerns). Get the facts out. Tell people what we know and more importantly what we don't know so they don't get false information," said Doctor Reginald Washington, Chief Medical Officer for Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children.

Washington, alongside Dr. John Hammer, an infectious disease specialist at Rose Medical Center, have set aside an hour to take questions Thursday night, via Webex.

Not only will they take questions but they will take the time to clear up any confusion surrounding the virus.

"We see more people getting misinformation and challenging things like wearing a mask so people are very anxious, they're frightened."

For Shay Martin, a full-time working mom, her concerns related to COVID-19 go back to her kids.

"Just watching my kids go through missing their friends, being out of their sports, their activities, and seeing them trying to navigate this whole experience and just seeing sort of how emotional it's been for them… my daughter has been very sad, my sons been sad and frustrated," she said.

Martin happens to be a pediatric nurse. One might think she has all the answers but she says with the new information they continue to learn; her work has only given her time to think about everything she doesn't know.

"I think the unknown of, what would this look like for my kiddos if they did get sick?"

She's also concerned about how to keep her kids safe once their back in school.

"Ya know, what is this going to look like moving forward with school next year? How do we make sure that it's safe for our children? How do we make sure that they're being safe and In speaking to my friends, ya know, when can our children start maybe seeing some friends again, start to have a little socialization because that's so important for our kids."

All questions Dr. Hammer and Dr. Washington have been trying to answer over the last few months while juggling their own work-load and just one of many subjects they plan to cover Thursday night.

The plan is to answer questions and discuss topics such as:

• Practicing avoidance to virus exposure inside and outside your home
• Testing for the virus and antibodies
• Considerations in seeking medical/surgical and Emergency Room care
• Talking to children about the pandemic; safety for our little ones; school and day care

It's an opportunity Martin wouldn't miss.

"To reach out to professionals who have been doing all of the research, who have been getting the best information out there that there is to get? It's great," she continued, "if you have that opportunity to reach out to these folks in one place ya know, get your questions answered… because ya know, there's enough stressful things of being a parent to now add this on top of it so if there's just one simple place you can go to help ease one stressful part of being a parent? I think that's so important."

On Thursday, May 28, from 4-4:45 p.m., experts Reginald Washington, M.D., Chief Medical Officer for PSL/Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, and John Hammer, MD., Rose Medical Center Infectious Disease specialist, will discuss such topics as:

• Practicing avoidance to virus exposure inside and outside your home
• Testing for the virus and antibodies
• Considerations in seeking medical/surgical and Emergency Room care
• Talking to children about the pandemic; safety for our little ones; school and day care

There will be an opportunity to ask questions of our experts. If you would like to submit a question in advance, please send it to: website@healthonecares.com

LINK: Managing Your Health As Communities Reopen

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