1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,545 I'm Dave Molmen. 2 00:00:01,545 --> 00:00:04,545 I'm CEO of ALTRU health system. 3 00:00:04,545 --> 00:00:11,550 And I became involved as as the pandemic began, 4 00:00:11,550 --> 00:00:12,900 there was a group called the 5 00:00:12,900 --> 00:00:14,640 institutional partners that came 6 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,960 together and I participated in that group. 7 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:21,555 What was your role as you saw it? 8 00:00:21,555 --> 00:00:24,225 I was one of the participants in that actually, 9 00:00:24,225 --> 00:00:28,410 I came out of retirement back to ALTRU at near 10 00:00:28,410 --> 00:00:30,930 that time the institutional partners 11 00:00:30,930 --> 00:00:33,510 had already begun functioning, 12 00:00:33,510 --> 00:00:37,830 but I was I was one of that one of 13 00:00:37,830 --> 00:00:40,160 the members of that we all kind 14 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:43,685 of worked as co-equals in the process. 15 00:00:43,685 --> 00:00:48,770 You recall a moment of time a day when you realized 16 00:00:48,770 --> 00:00:51,890 that COVID-19 was going 17 00:00:51,890 --> 00:00:54,755 to be as big a deal as it has turned out to be. 18 00:00:54,755 --> 00:00:57,830 Yes. I remember very well 19 00:00:57,830 --> 00:01:00,770 and it was early on when some of the initial reports were 20 00:01:00,770 --> 00:01:05,300 coming about the outbreak 21 00:01:05,300 --> 00:01:08,300 of COVID overseas and some 22 00:01:08,300 --> 00:01:11,405 of the first cases here in the United States. 23 00:01:11,405 --> 00:01:13,340 And I felt quite certain at 24 00:01:13,340 --> 00:01:15,950 that point in time that this was going to be 25 00:01:15,950 --> 00:01:18,200 a pandemic and it would come 26 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:20,360 toward us and it would involve us here in 27 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:24,725 our region and working with the university. 28 00:01:24,725 --> 00:01:28,130 Well, what did you see your role there being? 29 00:01:28,130 --> 00:01:30,425 That collaboration. 30 00:01:30,425 --> 00:01:33,170 That group, 31 00:01:33,170 --> 00:01:35,000 that institutional partners group 32 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:36,530 was a collaborative group. 33 00:01:36,530 --> 00:01:38,870 And in the beginning we were all just 34 00:01:38,870 --> 00:01:42,380 trying to understand how 35 00:01:42,380 --> 00:01:45,830 this pandemic was going to be unfolding 36 00:01:45,830 --> 00:01:49,550 and how we're going to respond to it. 37 00:01:49,550 --> 00:01:53,030 I think we worked very much as I would say, 38 00:01:53,030 --> 00:01:58,970 a council appears to try to look at what's coming at us. 39 00:01:58,970 --> 00:02:01,130 To look at the health of the community, 40 00:02:01,130 --> 00:02:04,520 to try to identify what resources we had and 41 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:05,870 what resources we would 42 00:02:05,870 --> 00:02:08,840 need and slowly figure it out together. 43 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:11,765 And that group included people from the city, 44 00:02:11,765 --> 00:02:14,345 the county school district, 45 00:02:14,345 --> 00:02:16,700 Air Force Base, right? 46 00:02:16,700 --> 00:02:22,700 The the group that sat in that included the city, 47 00:02:22,700 --> 00:02:26,330 the county, the University of North Dakota, 48 00:02:26,330 --> 00:02:29,210 ALTRU our health system, 49 00:02:29,210 --> 00:02:32,390 Public health, Air Force Base, 50 00:02:32,390 --> 00:02:34,370 school systems, 51 00:02:34,370 --> 00:02:38,360 and one or two others I've probably forgotten. 52 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:39,800 And ultimately the response 53 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,965 itself included all of those plus others, 54 00:02:42,965 --> 00:02:44,510 such as the National Guard and 55 00:02:44,510 --> 00:02:47,855 volunteers and swim around community. 56 00:02:47,855 --> 00:02:51,410 What what were obstacles 57 00:02:51,410 --> 00:02:54,785 or or hurdles that you had to overcome? 58 00:02:54,785 --> 00:02:59,465 Well, I I think that's a very good question. 59 00:02:59,465 --> 00:03:03,230 And you have to remember that at the beginning, 60 00:03:03,230 --> 00:03:10,385 we really didn't understand this this pandemic. 61 00:03:10,385 --> 00:03:13,970 We didn't know for sure what it was going to look like. 62 00:03:13,970 --> 00:03:16,670 We didn't know in the beginning 63 00:03:16,670 --> 00:03:20,345 what it took for people to stay safe. 64 00:03:20,345 --> 00:03:22,535 And that evolved over time. 65 00:03:22,535 --> 00:03:25,760 We had to try to figure out 66 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:27,500 what resources we had to deal 67 00:03:27,500 --> 00:03:29,585 with that and that was very difficult. 68 00:03:29,585 --> 00:03:33,530 And so some of the initial obstacles 69 00:03:33,530 --> 00:03:37,670 in that we're just a limited amount of knowledge and a 70 00:03:37,670 --> 00:03:41,330 limited amount of resources with which to deal with 71 00:03:41,330 --> 00:03:47,570 what we were being impacted by. 72 00:03:47,570 --> 00:03:49,460 On a larger scale. 73 00:03:49,460 --> 00:03:53,150 You know, I think we had the attitude right from 74 00:03:53,150 --> 00:03:57,380 the start that we're going to work together as a group, 75 00:03:57,380 --> 00:04:00,335 as a, as a community in a region. 76 00:04:00,335 --> 00:04:04,925 I think that was a significant decision. 77 00:04:04,925 --> 00:04:06,770 It was quite a bit different than I'd 78 00:04:06,770 --> 00:04:10,310 seen in other communities across the country. 79 00:04:10,310 --> 00:04:12,305 But there are obstacles. 80 00:04:12,305 --> 00:04:17,195 Even when you commit to work together on something. 81 00:04:17,195 --> 00:04:20,330 You find out that all of us have 82 00:04:20,330 --> 00:04:23,675 our own way of approaching issues. 83 00:04:23,675 --> 00:04:25,910 We have our own protocols, 84 00:04:25,910 --> 00:04:28,985 we have our own different ways of communicating. 85 00:04:28,985 --> 00:04:32,015 We have different groups that we talked to. 86 00:04:32,015 --> 00:04:37,835 We have different political issues and other processes. 87 00:04:37,835 --> 00:04:42,545 And, you know, it takes awhile to work through that. 88 00:04:42,545 --> 00:04:44,270 I think we did very successfully, 89 00:04:44,270 --> 00:04:46,000 but you have to acknowledge 90 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,875 in taking on something as big and 91 00:04:48,875 --> 00:04:51,200 unknown as that to 92 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:55,560 truly work together and form a community response to it. 93 00:04:55,840 --> 00:05:00,230 Takes working through some of those issues, 94 00:05:00,230 --> 00:05:04,070 those barriers, those politics. 95 00:05:04,070 --> 00:05:07,115 So any mistakes along the way? 96 00:05:07,115 --> 00:05:08,840 Anything you, you look back on 97 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:10,520 the past two years and think that 98 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:12,785 I wish we'd done that a little differently. 99 00:05:12,785 --> 00:05:14,810 I don't see anything that I would call 100 00:05:14,810 --> 00:05:17,540 a big mistake in our response to it. 101 00:05:17,540 --> 00:05:19,490 You always look back and you say, Well, 102 00:05:19,490 --> 00:05:21,440 I think that we could have maybe got to that a 103 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:23,840 little bit more quickly or something, 104 00:05:23,840 --> 00:05:26,120 but that mostly has to do with 105 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:28,880 just ironing out those kinks and how we 106 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:34,850 all work individually and then as organizations and then, 107 00:05:34,850 --> 00:05:36,770 and then come together as a, 108 00:05:36,770 --> 00:05:38,090 as a greater whole. 109 00:05:38,090 --> 00:05:42,740 But honestly, I have to say that my impression of 110 00:05:42,740 --> 00:05:44,630 the response altogether was 111 00:05:44,630 --> 00:05:48,770 that it happened in this community. 112 00:05:48,770 --> 00:05:53,190 Probably as well as I've seen it anywhere in the country. 113 00:05:53,620 --> 00:05:56,645 Evidenced that I would have for 114 00:05:56,645 --> 00:06:02,900 how things ultimately worked 115 00:06:02,900 --> 00:06:07,520 pretty well around here is that as we all looked at 116 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:12,620 the national news, we saw confusion. 117 00:06:12,620 --> 00:06:13,819 We saw arguing. 118 00:06:13,819 --> 00:06:15,725 we saw long, 119 00:06:15,725 --> 00:06:18,980 long interminable lines of people 120 00:06:18,980 --> 00:06:23,150 waiting for tests or when they became available, 121 00:06:23,150 --> 00:06:24,590 vaccines and so forth. 122 00:06:24,590 --> 00:06:28,670 But it wasn't as if we hadn't had no problems with that. 123 00:06:28,670 --> 00:06:31,640 But nothing like what 124 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:36,215 I saw in other parts of the country. 125 00:06:36,215 --> 00:06:40,250 If if in two or three or four years we're 126 00:06:40,250 --> 00:06:44,105 faced with something similar with a new virus. 127 00:06:44,105 --> 00:06:48,905 And people responding to it came to you for what, 128 00:06:48,905 --> 00:06:51,740 what are your three best pieces 129 00:06:51,740 --> 00:06:54,455 of advice you would give us on how to proceed. 130 00:06:54,455 --> 00:06:56,450 I guess I have one piece of advice that 131 00:06:56,450 --> 00:06:58,580 goes before that actually happens. 132 00:06:58,580 --> 00:07:01,310 I'd say there's no substitute 133 00:07:01,310 --> 00:07:03,290 for practice, practice, practice. 134 00:07:03,290 --> 00:07:06,560 And you have to constantly imagined 135 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:11,945 that one day crisis is going to come along. 136 00:07:11,945 --> 00:07:13,790 It came along with the pandemic, 137 00:07:13,790 --> 00:07:16,430 came along years before as 138 00:07:16,430 --> 00:07:20,690 this community FaceTime a huge flood. 139 00:07:20,690 --> 00:07:22,980 And there's just no substitute for 140 00:07:22,980 --> 00:07:26,990 four good detailed practice that 141 00:07:26,990 --> 00:07:31,475 helps grease those wheels of progress. 142 00:07:31,475 --> 00:07:34,100 So when you get to that day though, 143 00:07:34,100 --> 00:07:38,450 I say, don't waste a moment in getting together. 144 00:07:38,450 --> 00:07:41,915 Don't don't wait to have it all figured out. 145 00:07:41,915 --> 00:07:47,435 Don't wait until your particular organization has, 146 00:07:47,435 --> 00:07:49,760 has the answer figured out 147 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:52,250 and you want to share it with others. 148 00:07:52,250 --> 00:07:54,440 Get together when you're confused. 149 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:56,990 And it's not, it's not at 150 00:07:56,990 --> 00:07:59,570 all clear so that you can find that path 151 00:07:59,570 --> 00:08:02,870 together and began working on the things that it's 152 00:08:02,870 --> 00:08:06,739 going to truly take to make an effective response. 153 00:08:06,739 --> 00:08:09,680 There's been a lot of controversy, 154 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:14,915 some contentious in the public at large. 155 00:08:14,915 --> 00:08:17,660 How do you think the image of 156 00:08:17,660 --> 00:08:24,210 the American health system has come through all of this? 157 00:08:24,310 --> 00:08:30,035 I think that it's a mix. 158 00:08:30,035 --> 00:08:33,150 I think that on one hand, 159 00:08:33,370 --> 00:08:39,470 health care system at 160 00:08:39,470 --> 00:08:41,900 large for the whole country as by 161 00:08:41,900 --> 00:08:45,275 enlarge in there for people. 162 00:08:45,275 --> 00:08:46,880 And I think to this very day, 163 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:50,840 which now we're almost two years into the pandemic. 164 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:51,860 But to this very day, 165 00:08:51,860 --> 00:08:53,555 we have people who are, 166 00:08:53,555 --> 00:08:55,400 who are heroes and they've been 167 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,895 fighting at the frontlines wrongness. 168 00:08:58,895 --> 00:09:02,630 And I think that there has been an awareness, 169 00:09:02,630 --> 00:09:07,160 a greater awareness throughout 170 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,730 the country in awareness of unawareness, 171 00:09:10,730 --> 00:09:13,820 of the heroism and the, 172 00:09:13,820 --> 00:09:18,335 and the willingness of health care workers, 173 00:09:18,335 --> 00:09:21,830 especially frontline health care workers, 174 00:09:21,830 --> 00:09:25,865 to respond in a time of crisis. 175 00:09:25,865 --> 00:09:28,370 On the other hand, I think that this 176 00:09:28,370 --> 00:09:35,180 has been very fatiguing, 177 00:09:35,180 --> 00:09:37,400 maybe wouldn't be the right word, 178 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:42,155 but it's torn at the fiber growth of health care. 179 00:09:42,155 --> 00:09:44,105 And I think that we will not 180 00:09:44,105 --> 00:09:47,240 recover from it for a long time. 181 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:48,875 Yet. 182 00:09:48,875 --> 00:09:51,650 We've had some people over 183 00:09:51,650 --> 00:09:59,120 the last couple of years leave health care because of 184 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:03,710 the danger and because of 185 00:10:03,710 --> 00:10:08,840 weariness and fatigue and other issues. 186 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:14,824 And it will take us years to recover. 187 00:10:14,824 --> 00:10:18,410 The manpower. Though, the person 188 00:10:18,410 --> 00:10:25,380 power that we've lost over that period of time. 189 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:31,355 I'm optimistic that health care response has, 190 00:10:31,355 --> 00:10:37,040 has inspired people looking at a career, 191 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:39,335 some of them to come into healthcare, 192 00:10:39,335 --> 00:10:41,390 even knowing it's quite difficult. 193 00:10:41,390 --> 00:10:43,280 I've seen that happen. 194 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:46,820 We've had we've had in 195 00:10:46,820 --> 00:10:49,430 some health care professions 196 00:10:49,430 --> 00:10:51,380 an increase in the number of people who 197 00:10:51,380 --> 00:10:53,690 were interested in coming into it. 198 00:10:53,690 --> 00:10:55,190 But it's left us at a, 199 00:10:55,190 --> 00:10:57,500 at a difficult place and will 200 00:10:57,500 --> 00:11:00,305 be difficult for the future. 201 00:11:00,305 --> 00:11:02,930 Then I think that just generally 202 00:11:02,930 --> 00:11:06,770 because we're at a point in our society 203 00:11:06,770 --> 00:11:13,910 that I would say that we're divided as a, 204 00:11:13,910 --> 00:11:18,830 as a country on our response to issues like this. 205 00:11:18,830 --> 00:11:24,035 It gets tied up with other things that were divided on. 206 00:11:24,035 --> 00:11:26,210 And that's been difficult for 207 00:11:26,210 --> 00:11:29,690 us as a country and it's been difficult for healthcare. 208 00:11:29,690 --> 00:11:33,065 You are optimistic that we can come through this. 209 00:11:33,065 --> 00:11:35,960 I am optimistic that we can come through this. 210 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:37,970 I'm I'm optimistic that we're 211 00:11:37,970 --> 00:11:40,100 going to hit it has been longer 212 00:11:40,100 --> 00:11:41,810 than than any of us would have 213 00:11:41,810 --> 00:11:45,230 thought to be going through the, 214 00:11:45,230 --> 00:11:49,610 what I call still the crisis stage, the pandemic stage. 215 00:11:49,610 --> 00:11:54,020 I think that we will probably emerge from that into 216 00:11:54,020 --> 00:11:58,955 a situation where we're not totally rid of COVID ever, 217 00:11:58,955 --> 00:12:02,570 that it will be endemic and we'll treat it as 218 00:12:02,570 --> 00:12:05,390 a seasonal disease and it 219 00:12:05,390 --> 00:12:08,345 will still be a danger to people. 220 00:12:08,345 --> 00:12:10,865 But I think that there will be 221 00:12:10,865 --> 00:12:14,690 a normalcy for life after that. 222 00:12:14,690 --> 00:12:19,385 And I think that all of us will find a way to cope and, 223 00:12:19,385 --> 00:12:24,500 and and go through that including health care. 224 00:12:24,500 --> 00:12:26,150 I think one of the great things 225 00:12:26,150 --> 00:12:28,940 about the response that we've seen in 226 00:12:28,940 --> 00:12:33,980 our community is that there has been some magic in, 227 00:12:33,980 --> 00:12:39,710 in working as a greater community in that we have 228 00:12:39,710 --> 00:12:46,920 found ways to improvise and to help each other. 229 00:12:48,940 --> 00:12:54,410 Resource shortages have been pervasive. 230 00:12:54,410 --> 00:12:58,730 But you know what you'll find when you work as 231 00:12:58,730 --> 00:13:00,740 a larger group that there are 232 00:13:00,740 --> 00:13:03,410 times when I might not what I need, 233 00:13:03,410 --> 00:13:04,670 what I have for a thing, 234 00:13:04,670 --> 00:13:07,025 but someone else might. 235 00:13:07,025 --> 00:13:11,045 I might not have the tool that I need, 236 00:13:11,045 --> 00:13:13,400 but someone else might. 237 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:15,980 And we've continued to 238 00:13:15,980 --> 00:13:19,460 partner and trade places and in those situations, 239 00:13:19,460 --> 00:13:22,255 and I think that we've really, 240 00:13:22,255 --> 00:13:28,230 really done pretty well, pretty well.