COVID-19 UPDATES

 

I hope you and your families are safe.  I have no doubt your time is limited, but I wanted to share some important updates from the state and national level.  I am proud our state enacted a “stay at home” order, and have been heartened by the response of our health care teams, the business sector, and our local communities. 

Our COVID-19 recommended resources are found here, which includes the CDC and links to the State of Illinois key websites. We are grateful that so many of our members have been featured in the news, helping to educate the public and share their stories. 

To you, our current student and transitional members, you will soon be a vital part of our medical teams. For now, I encourage you to stay safe and volunteer where you can. You may have seen there is a critical need for blood donations.  Visit the Red Cross blood center or Vitalant if you are eligible to donate. 

AAFP staff and leadership are working on many fronts.  In the broadest terms, their top priorities are:

  • Ensuring the safety of family physicians through the provision of supplies, PPE, access to COVID19 testing and the support needed to continue working safely.  
  • Ensuring that physicians and practices are paid for all the services they are providing by every means available to them.
  • Urging continued caution and social distancing as well as adherence to evidence-based information provided by the Centers for Disease Control.
On Friday 3/20, AAFP joined AMA and others to send a letter to House and Senate leadership calling for increased support to physicians. Find the latest AAFP updates on the AAFP’s Daily Update For Members website.

You can also advocate for today's physicians. I encourage everyone to use this easy tool to send your legislators a pre-drafted letter calling on support for full telehealth reimbursement.  Please also consider signing on to this Change.org petition to Congress requesting economic relief to independent physicians and practices. 

Take time for yourself and your loved ones as much as possible.  You will be ready to join us on the front lines when your time comes. Thank you for everything you do.

Michael A.  Hanak, MD, FAAFP
Acting President 


Stay connected at www.iafp.com 



Illinois Academy of Family Physicians

747 E. Boughton Road, Ste. 253, Bolingbrook, IL 60440         www.iafp.com