The COVID-19 pandemic has had a rippling effect across our nation and around the world. Healthcare institutions and clinics of all kinds are struggling to implement appropriate safety precautions and policies that protect the safety of patients, healthcare workers, and their families. We at Iris have been working with clinics to set up video and phone visits to make sure patients with severe behavioral health disorders stay well and get access to vital treatment and medications they need.
Already, healthcare workers are facing equipment shortages and having to trust the safety of potentially reused personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce exposure. Parents and grandparents are learning to creatively manage home life while daycares and schools remain closed, and family trips cancel. Workers whose jobs are in jeopardy, or who have been laid off or terminated, are worrying about how to pay their bills and what their financial futures hold. We are all severely affected in one way or another by this current crisis.
The great humanitarian and physician, Albert Schweitzer, once wrote:
“Reverence for human suffering and human life, for the smallest and most insignificant, must be the inviolable law to rule the world from now on. In so doing, we do not replace old slogans with new ones and imagine that some good may come out of high-sounding speeches and pronouncements. We must recognize that only a deep-seated change of heart, spreading from one person to another, can achieve such a thing in this world.”
Amid all the fear and frustration expressed in phone calls, emails, web updates, and 24/7 news reports related to COVID-19, I also see evidence of the “deep-seated change of heart, spreading from one person to another,” that Dr. Schweitzer wrote about and hoped for. In the coming days, we at Iris Telehealth hope to share examples and stories which bear witness to this emerging “change of heart” by consolidating many COVID-19 updates, sharing telemedicine best practices, and posting positive and encouraging stories of hope and resilience.
We are in this together, we will get through this together, and we will come out of it better people, together. Iris Telehealth is here to support patients, clinics, and communities, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to us for any help or information. Stay safe.
Sincerely,
Thomas R. Milam, MD
Chief Medical Officer, Iris Telehealth
About Iris Telehealth
Iris Telehealth is a telepsychiatry provider organization made up of the highest quality psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners. Our mission is to provide underserved communities with access to the best mental health specialists and prescribers. We are owned and operated by doctors who understand what patients need and have earned a reputation for providing outstanding customer service. Iris values building strong professional relationships with our partners and their staff. We are dedicated to understanding your organization’s needs and operational goals because we recognize that your success is critical to our own.
