1 2 3 4 5 6
Minutes of the
Louisiana State Medical Society
Board of Governors Meeting – March 24, 2020
Call to Order
7 Katherine Williams, MD, President, called the meeting to order, on Tuesday March 24, 2020 at 6:00 P.M.
8 9
Verification of Quorum
10 11 12
Dr. Paddock verified the presence of a quorum.
District Updates
13 Dr. Williams asked each district councilor and/or officer present to provide a brief COVID-19 update for 14 their local area and communities. 15 16 District 1: George Ellis, MD – 94 in ICUs; some push back on closing ambulatory surgical centers; news 17 on federal loans and grants seems positive; no visitors allowed at area hospitals; Ochsner gave iPads to all 18 physicians and directed them to see patients via telemedicine. most everyone in Jefferson and Orleans 19 parish would agree and feels that things are under better control versus just a couple of weeks ago. 20 However, there is some contention surrounding the New Orleans Mayor's recent actions and the business 21 community. Hospital bed usage in the area has been steadily trending downward. 22 23 District 2: Richard Paddock, MD – echoed the prior comments for the area and added that West Jefferson 24 Hospital had 17 on ventilators, which was a third of their capacity, 51 vents total at the facility. 25 26 District 3: Allan Vander, MD: same or similar report as districts one and two; added that testing is 27 taking way too long. 28 29 District 4: Jeff White, MD and Steen Trawick, MD – the Shreveport/Bossier area continues to lag New 30 Orleans - 60 confirmed cases and 0 confirmed deaths; ICU at Willis-Knighton mostly full but wards are 31 empty; hospital has dedicated units for COVID-19 response with 150 ventilators available and not at 32 capacity and doesn’t believe they will reach capacity. Christus has 3 on vents and is picking up rural 33 transfers. 34 35 District 5: Adrienne Williams, MD – without being duplicative, 4 cases and 1 death; largest issue by far 36 for the area is lack of personal protective equipment (PPE). 37 38 District 6: Will Freeman, MD – Baton Rouge area is currently somewhere between New Orleans and 39 Shreveport and area hospitals continue to convert non-ICU rooms into ICU rooms in preparation for a 40 spike in cases. 41 42 District 7: Brian Gamborg, MD – has been lucky thus far with zero confirmed cases but the area does not 43 have enough intensivists and PPE if that were to change. 44 45 District 8: unfortunately, no one from the Alexandria area was able to participate in the meeting. 46 47 District 9: Andy Blalock, MD – Louisiana Emergency Medical Unit (LEMU) on site; same or similar 48 concerns as everyone else; 271 in area hospitals with 94 on ventilators; critical shortage of PPE.
49 50
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software