Students, Faculty, Residents, Staff, Alumni, Board Members and Friends,
Greetings from Naval Submarine Base New London, CT, where, for the first time in about 4 months, Tanis and I have left the greater Philadelphia area so I could speak at one of my former shipmate’s retirement ceremony. I always feel very honored when asked to do these and in this particular case extremely proud of what this fine officer has accomplished through her wonderful career. As a bonus, I’ll get to see one of our PCO alumni, LT Jonathan Jacesko, who is also stationed here!
Closer to home, I want to thank our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee for sponsoring what I thought was an extremely thought provoking and instructional “Lunch and Learn” yesterday afternoon. I particularly want to thank Camille Menns, (MSOT ‘21) who led the discussion on Allyship. These are important discussions that can only happen when people, such as Camille, are willing to put themselves out there and lead the way. The question and comments that followed her presentation told me that, while we still have a long way to go, people are beginning to feel more comfortable in having those difficult conversations that absolutely must occur in order to realize true changes in attitudes and ultimately behaviors.
Speaking of welcoming, I’d also like to take the opportunity to welcome the PCO Accelerated Scholars Class of 2023 to Salus. Like our new residents, these students, from a very diverse academic backgrounds, all hit the deck running as well. I’ve already seen them working in the Clinical Procedures Lab and I know they’ve been getting lectures since arriving. Dr. Eckert and I had the opportunity to virtually meet the class earlier this week which provided us a nice opportunity to personally welcome them and learn a bit more about each student. I look forward to seeing you all around campus!
As more people start to come to campus and people become more comfortable with our screening process and other protocols to keep us safe and healthy, there is a tendency to become a little complacent with things. Please don’t! Wearing face masks that cover the nose and mouth, combined with social distancing and frequent hand-washing are the only defenses we have right now to combat COVID-19. We cannot let down our guard, not even once. Please, if you see someone not wearing a face mask or wearing one improperly, politely correct them. If you’re on the receiving end of one of those comments, please accept it for what it is – a reminder to help keep us all safe. It’s pretty simple – I wear a face mask to protect you and you wear one to protect me. Like all new habits, it takes several weeks to get comfortable with it, but I can assure you, you will.
Finally, it’s easy to get discouraged watching the news, the many mixed messages we’re hearing, and about the increases in COVID-19 cases we’re seeing across the country. I think we can be heartened that our specific area continues to do well, primarily because most people are following the prescribed guidelines of wearing face masks, practicing social distancing and frequent hand washing. As I’ve said multiple times before today, we will get through this – it likely will take a little longer and require a bit more effort than we originally thought, but this will end. It’s extremely important to keep a positive attitude and remember that sometimes it’s the small things that can make the biggest differences – such as following the CDC guidelines. The CDC protocols we’ve adopted at Salus are solid and will change from time to time based on local conditions and the science available to us. As always, if things do change, we’ll keep everyone informed, as we have since this all began.
We are united in effort and SALUS STRONG! Try to get out and enjoy the weekend practicing all of the preventive measures I’ve already mentioned. I look forward to seeing more of you on campus in the coming weeks.
Mike
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