The Business Review February 2021

PROVIDING NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES

Now What? Discussing Next Steps in the Pandemic Response at the Chamber of Medford & Jackson County Forum

By Rebecca Scott | RJS Writing Service | February 9, 2021

Virtual Forum with Angela Dowling, President, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon; Dr. Jim Polo, Executive Medical Director, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, and Dr. Jamie Grebosky, MD, Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer, Asante. Spon -

sored by: Regence BlueCross BlueShield, February Forum A fter 11 months of struggling with the impacts of a global pandemic, the world is seeing glimmers of hope as vaccines are created, approved and distributed. During the February Forum, three healthcare experts discussed how the pandemic has impacted

who described Asante’s response to the pandemic in further detail. “We had the first mobile collection site in the state by early March,” said Grebosky. Shortly after, he explained they got testing up and running, and used up to six platforms for local testing.

Oregon and what comes next. Most of the program was left open for a Q&A session. First, Angela Dowling, President of Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, addressed Oregon’s response to the pandemic. On the economic side, she explained the GDP had a dramatic pullback of over 35% when COVID hit. However, it is starting to rebound. “At one point the unemployment rate was at 13-14%. It has improved but will take a long time to return to pre-pandemic numbers,” Dowling said. Since the pandemic affected so many different parts of daily life, including how schools and businesses operate, the overall recovery might be a slow one. Fortunately, BlueCross BlueShield has stepped up and done a lot to help their members and the community, according

However, Grebosky noted that local physicians started to get swamped with additional phone calls related to the coronavirus. To address this, Asante created a COVID hotline. In the beginning, there were over 600 calls a day. This slowed down during the summer and increased again as people had questions about the vaccine. “There has also been a rise in telemedicine visits,” added Grebosky. “In April, there were more than 12,000, which has stabilized at about 8,000-10,000.”

Moving forward, mass vaccination events are one of the best options, explained Grebosky. “We are also actively engaging in our “Hesitancy Campaign” to get information out to people. We want to help them understand the value in receiving the vaccine, and how that translates to life returning to normal as much as possible.” “We don’t know what the future will bring. I think the best path forward is to continue with mask wearing, social distancing and large, broad vaccination efforts,” added Grebosky. Then Dr. Jim Polo, Executive Medical Director of Regence

Angela Dowling, President of Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon

to Dowling. “We have covered more than $110 million in COVID tests and treatments, with another $18 million in philanthropic investments. We were able to provide greater financial stability and support for providers.” The presentation then pivoted to Dr. Jamie Grebosky, Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer of Asante,

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The Business Review | February 2021

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