KUMC’s Steve Stites on COVID-19 Challenges

As COVID-19 spreads across the nation, local healthcare organizations are talking about how to share resources and are hopeful that if residents heed their advice, the greater metro area will have the resources to help those needing hospitalization.

“As we keep saying, it all depends on the slope of the curve,” said Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, of how many the virus will infect at one time. “Which comes back to what can you effect to make that slope different, and really there is only one thing that our community can do and that is to follow the basic rules of this infection control. That is why social distancing is so incredibly important, don’t touch your face and cough into your arm. Those are the things that we have, that have the ability to help us control the virus. It is the most important public health measure available to us. Someday when there is a vaccine, that will become the most important heath measure, but today what we have is the basics.”

Stites went on to talk about his son, who recently fell ill, “My son is 24 and a little over a week ago he had a cough and a sore throat. I don’t know if he had the coronavirus or not, because we can’t get testing. So we left him at home and he’s got his own apartment, and he was staying there and we dropped off groceries.” Stites said his son is now on the mend and will be fine.

“But for that 24 year old son of mine, there is a 25 year old daughter of someone who is in our hospital and on a ventilator.” 

Tammy Peterman, executive vice president as well as chief operating officer and chief nursing officer of the KU Health System said, “We have to acknowledge that this is real. I think until you know someone that has tested and it’s come back positive, people don’t necessarily always know it’s real.”

Peterman expressed how grateful and proud she is of Kansas City, from the medical and business communities to nonprofits and individuals, citing that about 70 area groups have come forward to help the health system with everything from catering to donated supplies and money.

Both Peterman and Stites cited the emergency plans that the medical community have been working on to make sure it can adequately handle a spike in cases.

“What I do know is that a lot of the health care professionals in every hospital are talking, we talk twice a week with the other chief medical officers,” said Stites, who also said they spoke with medical officials in Wuhan to learn from them. “I know there is a critical planning task force here. We are looking across the metro,” he said to ensure the hospitals are prepared and all have the equipment and supplies needed.