Students, Faculty, Residents, Staff, Alumni, Board Members and Friends,
Good morning from a warm and sticky Elkins Park Campus where we were just notified by the National Optometric Association that PCO/Salus was recognized as their University of the Year for our work in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. This recognition belongs to each and every one of us, but especially those who helped us to navigate some challenging waters along the way. There will be a formal recognition ceremony sometime in the Fall where we can recognize some of these individuals. In addition to learning that great news, here are some other things I wanted to make you aware of:
OT DIPLOMA DAY: We celebrated our most recent Occupational Therapy graduates with our first-ever OT Diploma Day this week. More than half the class returned to the on-campus ceremony to receive their diplomas. These young professionals are more than ready to meet the challenges they will encounter when they land their first jobs since every curveball that was thrown at them these past two years was overcome with grace and professionalism. I’m so proud of them. Look for a story on the event next week on our website.
BOARD CHAIR TRANSITION: As I mentioned last week, Rebecca Delia became our new board chair, taking over for longtime chair Jo Surpin, effective July 1, 2021. Here’s a story about Ms. Surpin reflecting on the board’s accomplishments during her tenure and Ms. Delia talking about her role moving forward. For details, click here.
POST-BACC PROGRAM ADDITION: Since its inception, students applying to the University’s Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) program require specific prerequisite courses. In the past, those students would need to go somewhere else to fulfill this requirement. But starting this fall, that’s going to change. Prospective students will be able to obtain that coursework through the SLP track in the University’s Post-baccalaureate program. To read how that will set our program apart from others, click here.
FACULTY FOCUS: This week’s Faculty Focus is on Bre Myers, AuD ‘06, PhD ‘17, CH-AP. Read about Dr. Myers’ distinguished career at Salus, why she named her bulldog Scarlet and about her experience in the rough and tumble world of roller derby. Go to salus.edu/BreMyersFocus.
SLP MOVIE NIGHT: The Department of Speech-Language Pathology is hosting a movie night featuring the documentary “Magnolia’s Hope,” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 21, in Room S300 on the Elkins Park campus. The film is about a girl with Rett Syndrome, a rare genetic neurological disorder that leads to severe impairments affecting nearly every aspect of her life. Following the film, the movie’s creator will join the group for a question-and-answer session.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Yesterday the Surgeon General of the United States issued an advisory warning the American Public about the threat of health misinformation. In the advisory, Dr. Vivek Murthy stated, “Health misinformation is an urgent threat to public health. It can cause confusion, sow mistrust, and undermine public health efforts, including our ongoing work to end the COVID-19 pandemic”. As we attempt to get more of our population vaccinated, this issue becomes more critical as data suggests over 65% of unvaccinated adults have heard at least one of these COVID vaccine myths and either believed it to be true or were not sure how valid it was (KFF website, May, 2021). Unfortunately, an analysis of social media posts found that false news stories were 70% more likely to be shared than true stories (Science, 2018). As healthcare professionals, it’s our responsibility to ensure that we are giving our patients and clients fact-based information concerning these vaccines. It’s also our responsibility to get vaccinated and set the example for others. Given the rapid spread of the Delta variant of the virus, even with all this misinformation being purposefully distributed, I’m totally amazed that there are people who still refuse to get the jab. It makes no sense, especially since COVID-19 is now a preventable disease with the vaccine.
To that end, I want to remind everyone that our deadline for being fully vaccinated, unless you have an approved exemption, for all students, faculty and staff, is August 13th. If you are not fully vaccinated at that time, you will be asked to show proof of a negative test that was performed that week at your own expense. You will then have to provide proof of negative tests weekly, at your own expense, in order to come on to campus. You will also be required to wear a face mask at all times when on campus and in the clinics, even with a negative test result. Faculty and staff, please ensure that you have reported your vaccination status in our vaccination database. It is essential that we keep our vaccination data current. Students, you will be contacted by Castlebranch to provide your vaccination information in the near future.
Maintaining a safe Salus campus is paramount to getting us back to normal academic and clinical operations this Fall. Having us all vaccinated gets us there! We’ve done so well until now, let’s keep it going!
As we approach the weekend, please remember to keep doing all the important things we’ve been doing to get us through the pandemic to include frequent hand washing and not coming to work, school or clinic if you are not feeling well. Also, if you’re not vaccinated, please wear a face mask when around others and for those of us who are vaccinated, you should feel comfortable wearing a face mask whenever you feel it’s needed.
Stay safe, stay hydrated and remain SALUS STRONG!
Mike
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