PINE BLUFF, Ark. — More than three years ago, the Department of Health and Human Services declared a Public Health Emergency.
Since then, testing and vaccines became widely available— and now we have a better idea of how to treat COVID-19.
Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff was the first hospital in Arkansas to treat the first COVID patient.
On Wednesday, they will be celebrating National Hospital Week, and on Thursday, they'll celebrate the end of the Public Health Emergency.
"Having the very first COVID patient in the state of Arkansas, we had a lot to learn," said Robin Peddy, one of the nurses who led one of the hospital's COVID units.
During the years since the pandemic first began, she and everyone else had to quickly adjust to the best way to care for ill patients.
"It went from just a handful of patients to quickly a whole hall and then, another unit's worth," Peddy explained.
Dr. Naznin Jamal was also on the front lines, and she reflected on the lessons that were learned while navigating through the pandemic.
"I think education for the community would be something I would personally do differently," Dr. Jamal said.
She explained how doctors and nurses communicated well with each other, but they learned that it's important to really involve families of COVID patients as much as possible.
Most of their hospital protocols are relaxed.
As far as how the state moves forward, the Arkansas Department of Health released this statement:
"ADH local health units will continue to offer COVID-19 tests and vaccinations at no cost to the patient. ADH will bill insurance if they have it, but if they are uninsured or underinsured, there will still be no out-of-pocket cost. Over time, a pandemic disease transitions to an endemic disease, meaning the disease is still present but has more predictable behavior with less spikes. As the disease has become more endemic, ADH has appropriately returned to normal operations."
As we make the transition to ending the public health emergency, Dr. Jamal explained that another pandemic is unavoidable— so society shouldn't let their guards down.
"I feel that we should use this transition as a point to learn from, how we did things, what went right, and learn from the mistakes and plan for them," she added.
You can learn more about the ending of the Public Health Emergency here.