First hour: Dr. Robert Biernbaum, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Trillium Health; Pfizer vaccine trial participant Erica Fee
Second hour: Local emergency room staff on medical systems nearing disaster conditionsWe talk with Dr. Robert Biernbaum, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Trillium Health. Dr. Biernbaum discusses vaccine distribution and responds to Governor Cuomo's critism of local health leaders. Then, we hear from a local vaccine trial participant who learned this week when her study was unblinded that she received the Pfizer vaccine. Erica Fee is the producer of the Keybank Rochester Fringe Festival. We talk to her about her experience and how the pandemic has affected her work and the arts community. Our guests:
- Robert Biernbaum, D.O., senior vice president and chief medical officer at Trillium Health
- Erica Fee, participant in the Pfizer vaccine trial, and producer of the KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival
*The conversation with RCSD Superintendent Lesli Myers-Small originally scheduled for this hour will be rescheduled for next week. Myers-Small will discuss the district's reopening plan.
Then in our second hour, local emergency room doctors and nurses reached out to Connections because they have been disturbed by what they are seeing. They fear the community is still not taking this phase of the pandemic seriously enough. They say the region's medical systems are nearing disaster conditions, which could translate to significant mortality. We're joined by four members of the University of Rochester Medical Center's team, who share their first-hand experiences and perspectives. Our guests:
- Justin Hopkin, M.D., chief of the Hospital Medicine Division at the University of Rochester Medical Center
- Andrea Miglani, M.D., medical director for the Emergency Department at Strong Memorial Hospital
- Erik Rueckmann, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine, and associate advisory dean for University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
- Kate Valcin, RN, director of adult critical care nursing at Strong Memorial Hospital
