UIS and Community Health Roundtable to offer webinar on “Public Health & Medical Care in Sangamon County: Six Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic”

As part of the Springfield Innovation Hub, the University of Illinois Springfield and the Community Health Roundtable will offer a free public webinar on “Public Health and Medical Care in Sangamon County: Six Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

The webinar will take place from 12-1 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 21, and will be moderated by John Stremsterfer, president and CEO of the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln, with a quick update about the current status of COVID-19 plans for the state and county by Molly Lamb, executive director of the UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership.

Panelists for webinar include Gail O'Neill, director of the Sangamon County Department of Public Health (SCDPH); Dr. John Flack, chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at SIU School of Medicine; and Kenneth Kriz, UIS distinguished professor of public administration.

O’Neill will discuss the current status of COVID-19 in Sangamon County, including breakdowns by demographics and location, and how the SCDPH is responding, contract tracing, testing and planning for the fall and winter.

Flack will talk about how front line clinical providers have responded and adapted to COVID-19, how they are modifying their approach since Illinois has “reopened,” how medical care may be changed as we go on and how disparities of health care access and COVID-19 outcomes are being addressed.

Kriz will discuss ways we measure the COVID-19 pandemic, including a newer concept, the estimated reproduction rate of the virus (Rt), which shows how fast COVID-19 is growing.

Participants are encouraged to register for the event at go.uis.edu/COVIDwebinar, however registration is not required. Zoom and call in connection information can be found on the registration page.