Internal Memo At Our Lady Of Lourdes Circulates On Social Media

Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Henry Kaufman IV, at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center sent out an internal memo to his colleagues that has been circulating on social media. The memo emphasizes the severity and reality of COVID-19 in Louisiana.

The information was posted by Jim Hummel, KATC news anchor, via Twitter and you can see the tweet that includes the internal memo here @jimhummel

The memo lays out where Louisiana is at with COVID-19 and also details the current situation at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center.

Dr. Kaufman says that he has no reason to believe that COVID-19 is slowing down any time soon and that adjustments will need to be made in order to accommodate all patients at the hospital.

The CMO also addressed how he is facing confrontation on a daily basis from individuals in the community, "...who believe that the pandemic is a hoax, that it is politically motivated, that things are not as bad as the media portrays". Dr. Kaufman goes on to present an open invitation to anyone who is skeptical to take a tour of the ICU and COVID units at the hospital to show them that people of all ages are having really hard times dealing with this disease.

Dr. Kaufman also touches on the reality of schools opening back up saying, "For schools to open responsibly, hospitals must have some reasonable capacity to care for the surge in cases which will follow the children's return to school".

He continues his memo by asking his colleagues to lead by example and educate those around them on the severity of the circumstances we are all in.

Dr. Kaufman finishes his thoughts by making it clear that he does not advocate for any government mandates or other restrictions of freedom. He simply wants everyone to do the right thing.

The CMO concludes his memo with the following statement, "We all went into medicine out of a sense of the common good, to heal the sick and to ease suffering. Currently our community is sick, the disease is ignorance and misinformation and you my colleagues, are the cure. The patient requires your attention. Act".