Update from Dr. Morris Gessouroun CHF Patricia Price Browne Distinguished Chair

As you might suspect, just as your work and home lives have been dramatically changed in the last few weeks the same is very much true here at The Children’s Hospital and The Department of Pediatrics and we have had to adapt in many ways. While much of our Department of Pediatrics faculty and staff find themselves working from home, figuring out Zoom and Webex, many of our doctors are seeing patients by telemedicine visits or taking this opportunity to spend time working on publications or grant proposals. Others are here on campus for long hours every day working alongside our adult healthcare colleagues preparing for the possibility of a surge of COVID-19 patients.

Based on the experience in China, elsewhere in the world and so far in hotspots in the US, we do not expect there to be very many children hospitalized with this disease. However, in order to manage the potential surge of adults with COVID-19, we with our Children’s Hospital partners are preparing to potentially take care of young adults at The Children’s Hospital and the OU Children’s Clinic as well as expanding capacity in The Children’s Hospital Emergency Department.

Across the entire OUHSC campus, research activities have been curtailed during this crisis but research remains active in a number of areas particularly related to development of testing and vaccines for the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Two Children’s Hospital Foundation Endowed Chair holders, Dr. Robert Welliver is actively involved in the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development and Dr. Paul Darden and others are participating in a clinical trial to enroll pediatric patients with COVID-19 into a national study.

Our education programs have had to adapt as well as medical students are distance learning and are out of the clinical environment and residents have seen their assignments and rotations changed in significant ways.

As you might expect, with dramatic change from normal and uncertainty about what is yet to come, it has been stressful on our faculty and staff alike. Your continued support for our missions has never been more important as we weather and emerge from this crisis. Thank you as always for your support to Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Sincerely,

Morris Gessouroun, M.D.
Chairman; Department of Pediatrics
CHF Patricia Price Browne Distinguished Chair