From Columbus Business First, Women of Influence is an interview series showcasing some of the most powerful women in the Central Ohio business community. Hosted by Eleanor Kennedy, Assistant Managing Editor.
https://columbusbusinessfirst.com
episode 32: Crisis Management: Mike Abrams on the pandemic's long-term impact on hospitals
Central Ohio's hospitals have teamed up for years to try to reduce high rates of infant mortality, and the coronavirus pandemic has laid bare even more disparities in healthcare.
Statewide, hospitals are redoubling examination of how to reduce inequity, not only through public policy but their own care coordination and community outreach, said Mike Abrams, CEO of the Ohio Hospital Association.
"We do need to all get a lot more interested in what the solution is," Abrams said, in the latest episode of Columbus Business First's Crisis Management podcast.
"I think we’ve been quite perfect at defining the problem and providing data and statistics about the problem," he said. "And then we scratch our heads."
Abrams discussed other long-term results from the pandemic, including how it will affect hospital mergers or even survival of some institutions.
And he left no doubt that the trade group supports wearing facial coverings to protect people surrounding the wearer from possible transmission of Covid-19.
"We used to say in the old smoking debates that your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins," he said. "So you’re not allowed to contaminate the atmosphere that I’ve tried to function in and maintain my own health in. ... I don’t understand how things like that get politicized."