In the News

“They had what they call 100 percent effectiveness in 12 to 15-year-olds in their study — no one who got this vaccine ended up getting COVID,” said Dr. Krishnan Subrahmanian of Hennepin Healthcare.

Dr. Stacene Maroushek studies infectious diseases in children at Hennepin Healthcare. She says the human body reacts differently to drugs, medications and vaccines at different stages of life.

Over the next two weeks, Hennepin Healthcare will offer vaccine at more than 20 events planned at churches, schools, community centers and restaurants, said Dr. Deepti Pandita, chief medical information officer.

When allergy symptoms get so intense, just taking the recommended dose can feel insufficient. So can we pop another tablet before the first runs its course? Allergist Dr. John Sweet with Hennepin Healthcare said if you’re a kid under 6 years old or elderly, it could have adverse effects.

For leaders at Hennepin Healthcare, a health system in Minneapolis, this meant employing knowledge gained earlier in the pandemic. Deepti Pandita, MD, chief health innovation officer and Nneka Sederstrom, PhD, MPH, chief health equity officer were interviewed.

When severe COVID-19 leaves you on a heart-lung bypass machine for 81 days, and you make it out of the hospital alive, you tend to get noticed.

“That’s the longest we’ve had a survivor on veno-venous ECMO so far,” said Dr. Matthew Prekker, medical director of HCMC’s ECMO program, who treated Grubb. “He’s had the longest duration of support and fortunately is going to be a survivor.”

Dr. Stacene Maroushek, pediatric infectious disease specialist with Hennepin Healthcare, says there’s a lot of COVID-19 fatigue going around. She says it could be why many young people are not paying attention to safety precautions.

It would be “very reasonable” for some patients to opt for Moderna or Pfizer, but that doesn’t mean a woman under 50 would be wrong to select J&J, said Dr. Caitlin Eccles-Radtke, an infectious disease specialist at Hennepin Healthcare. The health system has found the one-shot vaccine helps immunize patients who can’t easily get to the clinic for two shots, so a patient’s access to health care can factor into the choice.

“Transparency and education are really critical in … letting people make a decision they feel comfortable with,” she said.

Dr. Matt Prekker co-authored a study released Wednesday by the CDC showing a 94% reduction in hospitalizations for fully vaccinated seniors who had received either the Moderna or Pfizer doses, the first to receive emergency approval in the United States.

Nneka Sederstrom, the chief health equity officer for Hennepin Healthcare, said that to overcome such barriers, there’s value in proceeding with a sense of purpose: “We have moved from focusing so much on speed to now being more intentional with equity.”

“One, I think, is COVID fatigue. That’s a big issue right now, people letting down their guard. Two is there is a new variant going around,” Dr. Stacene Maroushek of Hennepin Healthcare said.

When Dr. Dionne Hart was considering medical school, her high school adviser suggested she choose something more “suitable.” Fortunately, she ignored the advice. Hart, who was “always curious about brain disorders,” is among a tiny group of Black women psychiatrists.

While little is known about the long-term impact of tear gas, health experts know plenty about what happens in the short term. Dr. Thomas Wyatt, who practices emergency medicine at Hennepin Healthcare and treated many patients exposed to tear gas last year during protests, spoke at length with Sahan Journal about them.

“In the end, each of us as an individual has to weigh the risks or benefits of any medical decision being made for ourselves, and the best way to do that is by talking with your doctor,” Dr. Hannah Lichtsinn says.

“We’re going to beat this thing. This pandemic is going to end if we can get everybody vaccinated as quickly as possible. But there’s another goal, and that is equity.” – Dr. David Hilden

Most parents are already accustomed to making sacrifices for their kids. After all, that’s what being a parent is all about right? And pediatrician Dr. Stacene Maroushek at Hennepin Healthcare says the pandemic is no exception.

Hennepin Healthcare physicians were the first to notice the importance of prayers to their Muslim patients and the additional stress it caused them when they struggled to tell which direction to face when praying. The doctors suggested to the Emergency Management Diversity Committee that it should place qibla indicators in their exam rooms.

“I totally am with all the moms asking this question right now,” Hennepin Healthcare Emergency Room Physician Dr. Ashley Strobel says. Strobel understands why many mothers are feeling overwhelmed these days.

While several studies suggest the COVID vaccines are safe for adults, expecting mothers like Dr. Strobel were still left wondering. She ultimately decided to get vaccinated and received her first and second doses in February.

As a new leader, I took the CEO role 2 weeks before we did some executive orders here in Minnesota. Early on, it was about this robust 90-day plan I had developed that got thrown out the door and we had to pivot, and do so fast. There wasn’t time as a new leader for me to learn; it was all hands on deck. We needed to trust our instincts and drive and respond, and it was important that we did that as a team in those early days. It was about teaming inside our walls, with other health systems, and with all levels of government to respond to what we know across the nation: none of us knew what was coming ahead of us. I had to trust our team, I had to trust my leaders. – Jennifer DeCubellis, CEO

Shawna Sheppard is undergoing transplant surgery at HCMC Tuesday in order to donate one of her kidneys to her dad, 62-year-old Dwayne Sheppard.

“It was like a calling. I knew I was the person who was supposed to give him this,” she said.