March 30, 2020
We can’t get through this without doctors and healthcare providers.
Amidst the fear, grief, and uncertainty we are collectively experiencing as we cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, providers are on the front lines caring for our loved ones and protecting our communities. Every day, they brave the enormity of this crisis to deliver care that saves lives. We simply would not be safe without them.
In honor of National Doctors’ Day, we thank all doctors and healthcare providers for their incredible sacrifice, compassion, and heroism.
Every day, we hear from providers on the front lines of this crisis. This is an incredibly challenging time for healthcare workers all over the country, with an overwhelming number of patients seeking care, shortages of protective equipment, and other very difficult challenges.
They need our support more than ever.
“As this crisis unfolds and we implement a response starting with screening anyone who seeks our care, we are in a dire situation with personal protective equipment and running out quickly. If we don’t get masks soon, we’ll have to shut down our operations. We are the main healthcare provider for a huge region in Southern Arizona which means 32,000 children and adults we see in our clinics would need to turn to hospital ERs for care, and they are beyond capacity. In our region, most of our patient population lives in remote rural areas and our mobile medical clinic is enabling us to continue to reach these very isolated families.”
– Dr. Darlene Melk, Director of Community Medicine at the CHF-supported Chiricahua Community Health Centers, Inc. in Cochise County, AZ
For National Doctors’ Day, join us in celebrating exceptional providers like Dr. Melk, who are heroes in this crisis, fighting to protect all of us.
Our COVID-19 Community Emergency Response and Recovery Fund provides physicians and healthcare professionals in under-resourced communities across the country with the materials and support they need at this unprecedented time. Your support can help us provide much needed resources to expand screening and testing, and to help families and children cope with financial and educational insecurity brought on by this crisis. We have already ordered 32,000 N95 masks to send to the programs we fund across the country and are providing clinics with equipment to continue caring for families through telehealth technology.