OPINION: Community health centers can help stamp out Covid-19

Community health centers can help stamp out Covid-19 - STAT Across the U.S., community health centers are located in areas where the epidemic is surging among communities of color. Patrick Skerrett STAT

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Community health centers can play a crucial role in reducing the burden of the Covid-19 epidemic in the difficult winter months to come. They can serve as critical safety valves at a time when acute care hospitals and emergency rooms are saturated with patients. As a primary care physician working at a community health center in downtown Los Angeles, who has cared for so many frightened patients and their families, I know this all too well.

The scourge of Covid-19 continues to take its greatest toll on people of color, especially those living in areas with high concentrations of large, multigenerational families. While there is growing concern about the overwhelming caseloads of tertiary care hospitals, the most pressing need for patient care is in those local hotspots where new infections are bounding upward.

Across the U.S., community health centers are located in areas where the epidemic is surging among African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and other groups.

Here are some of the ways community health centers could respond rapidly to the pandemic, if only they were given adequate resources to do them.

Perform high-volume testing for Covid-19. ...

Use telemedicine technology to rapidly respond to patients’ inquiries and concerns. ...

Respond rapidly to patients who are at risk of deterioration. ...

Distribute pulse oximeters to patients and teach them how to use them. ...

Provide timely outpatient treatment to high-risk Covid-19 patients. ...