Treatment & Medical Personnel

Nearly 1,000 Coronavirus Patients Have Been Treated With Plasma, With The Help Of This Statewide Collaboration
CPR | May 29

To meet the needs of hundreds of sick patients in Colorado, someone needed to collect hundreds of units of plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients and disburse those units to hospitals across the state — collaboration was vital to scale up collection and meet the demand.

Colorado hospitals get second shipment of experimental anti-viral treatment
KXRM-TV | May 20

Colorado has received a second shipment of the experimental anti-viral drug remdesivir.

The first shipment of the experimental drug was distributed to hospitals last week. The state said Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has provided the state with an additional 1,720 doses of the drug.

Colorado receives experimental drug to treat coronavirus patients
Coloradoan | May 18

Colorado has received an initial shipment of an antiviral drug being tested to treat patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms.

The Colorado State Unified Command Group has received enough doses of remdesivir to treat 100 patients and has begun distributing the drug to eight hospital systems across the state.

Colorado doctors using donated plasma to treat coronavirus patients
Denver Post | May 17

Colorado doctors and researchers are studying whether fluids donated by people who recovered from the new coronavirus could give others a better chance of surviving, although one doctor warns that it isn’t a long-term solution.

The experimental treatment involves giving plasma — the liquid part of blood — from COVID-19 survivors to people who are seriously ill from the new coronavirus.

Early Results Show Convalescent Plasma A Promising Treatment For Some Colorado COVID-19 Patients
CPR | May 7

Just five weeks after being some of the first in the country to jump on an experimental treatment for desperately ill COVID-19 patients, doctors at Children’s Hospital Colorado are seeing promising results.

Here’s what four Colorado research teams have learned from working on a coronavirus vaccine
Colorado Sun | May 7

As Colorado slogs into its third month of the coronavirus pandemic, there is new hope around the globe that somebody, somewhere is getting close to developing a vaccine that would make this interminable misery actually terminable.

Denver senior living center hires band to play music outside for residents stuck in rooms
The Know | April 30

The sound of a trumpet filled the air around Hungarian Freedom Park on Wednesday afternoon, supported by a saxophone, clarinet and banjo. A Dixieland band was across Emerson Street near Speer, aiming their instruments and voices toward the open windows and balcony doors of Brookdale Parkplace senior living facility.

Nursing school grads ready to help fight against COVID-19
NBC 5 | April 20

Health care workers put their lives on the line when they go to work every day, but if they get sick, someone may need to step in and help. Nursing school students from CSU Pueblo will finish their semester on time, and right now, can start working before they take a test to become a registered nurse, to help as quickly as they can.

Two respiratory therapists canceled their wedding and now work long hours to keep people with COVID-19 breathing
ABC 9 Denver | April 20

They canceled their wedding and are instead working long hours treating COVID-19 patients. 

“Honestly at the end of the day, I’m grateful, we have each other in this,” said Jaquen Stoops. “There’s been people that have lost a family member.” 

“We have our jobs,” said Nicolle Stoops. “I know there are so many people out there worried about how they’re going to pay their mortgage or pay groceries.”

Colorado opens COVID-19 ‘symptom tracker’ to collect data
Colorado Springs Gazette | April 17

In the face of a severe testing shortage nationwide for COVID-19, the state has launched a “symptom tracker” to aid public health officials in locating future outbreaks.

Doctor: Sacrifices saving lives in pandemic
Montrose Press | April 17

Continued sacrifices by the business community and residents are helping Montrose County combat COVID-19, a viral respiratory illness that had as of Wednesday claimed six lives here, the county’s medical adviser and newly named emergency pandemic specialist said.

“The best outcome we all had hoped for was nobody would die and there would be no cases in Montrose,” Dr. Joe Adragna said Thursday, addressing the perceptions of people who may be underestimating the severity of the virus and the pandemic declaration it prompted.

Valley respiratory therapists head to Colorado to help coronavirus patients
KTAR News | April 13

Four Banner Health respiratory therapists traveled to Colorado this weekend to help coronavirus patients.

The therapists will spend two weeks in Greeley, Colo., to help the area with the large number of patients.

Loveland medical providers caring for coronavirus patients through added stress, worry
Loveland Herald | April 11

And medical staff whose specialties are on hold or not as highly in demand, are helping out in other departments. Surgeons have stepped in to help with IV lines and those who typically deal with outpatient procedures are helping with rounds, for example.

“It’s really cool how all the walls have come down and everybody is working toward one goal,” Cowan said, noting that everyone is needed right now to handle the influx of critical patients.

Vail, Beaver Creek patrollers are trading in their skis for ambulance keys in Eagle County’s coronavirus fight
Colorado Sun | April 10

on March 14, hundreds of ski patrollers at Vail and Beaver Creek suddenly lost their jobs when the resorts closed by Gov. Jared Polis’ executive order. Montera developed a quick training program and recruited 20 patrollers to trade in their skis for ambulances. The patrollers — whose jobs require training in emergency medical care — allow the county to deploy as many as six reserve ambulances and help back-up staff should any of the department’s 65 health care providers fall ill.

Volunteer pilots are helping fly critical supplies to hospitals in remote areas of Colorado
ABC 7 Denver | April 10

A group of volunteer pilots is flying much needed medical supplies to rural communities across Colorado to help in the fight against the novel coronavirus.

Angel Flight West is a nonprofit organization that normally arranges free flights to people who need to travel long distances for non-emergency medical appointments or procedures.

Arizona nurses arrive in Northern Colorado to help with coronavirus
Reporter-Herald | March 29, 2020

“Banner Health flew 10 nurses from Phoenix-area hospitals into Greeley on Sunday to help fill a need in Northern Colorado… The team of critical nurses was brought in to help at Banner’s hardest hit hospitals, according to a press release. They will serve primarily at North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, but also could be assigned to Loveland’s McKee Medical Center and Banner Fort Collins Medical Center if needed.”

Thousands of Retired Health Care Workers Are Volunteering to Help Areas Overwhelmed by Coronavirus
Time | March 26

… Despite the challenges and the potential risks, Cathy Howard, a 71-year-old retired nurse in Colorado, is eager to get back to work. … “I like to keep busy,” Howard says. “Since my retirement, I’ve been missing caring for people. This is an opportunity for me to help people again.”

Medical Students Deploy across Colorado to Help Combat Coronavirus
Fox 31 | March 18

Medical students are stepping up to help screen hospital visitors, safeguard protective equipment, and assist with hospital-centered phone calls.

Coronavirus May Call on Retired Medical Workers to Come Back To Work
NPR | March 17

Dr. Zwillich was being approached about the possibility of being called back into action in Colorado. NPR reported, “Clifford Zwillich practiced as a pulmonary critical care physician for 50 years. He’s been retired for three. And the letter he received begins, quote, “the state of Colorado is seeing an increasing demand for qualified health care professionals to assist in the testing, treatment and care of patients with COVID-19.

Like Emergency Medicine Special Forces, Colorado Doctors and Nurses Get Ready to Combat Coronavirus
CPR | March 15

Hospital officials say they’ve seen an uptick in respiratory cases and welcome state efforts to increase staffing in the face of the new coronavirus, after state regulators loosened requirements for medical professionals in Colorado.

State regulators will allow medical professionals licensed in other states to immediately start practicing. The state plans to bring in contract nurses from out of state to help the hardest hit communities.  And it will tap into students and faculty at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Colorado Government, Hospitals Take Extraordinary Measures to Avert ‘Catastrophic Overload’
Denver Post | March 13

Colorado’s hospitals are preparing for that, too. The members of the Colorado Hospital Association, which represents more than 100 facilities in the state, have signed onto an agreement to share resources, staff, supplies and equipment.