A Message From Local Doctors

Dear Editor,

To whom it may concern:

Our Medical Staff, as an independent body of physicians and advanced-practice professionals (including nurse practitioners, physicians assistants, and nurse anesthetists), convene regularly to discuss the global COVID-19 pandemic, our national response, the latest scientific breakthroughs, and the situation here in Valley County. We care for patients who live in many areas of Northeastern Montana and we work collaboratively with our county health department to keep our communities great places to live, work, and raise a family.

We are excited for the children of northeastern Montana to return to school. We agree with the American Academy of Pediatrics' assessment that children are best served in a formal educational environment which cannot be replicated online. We know our school districts have worked hard to come up with solutions to provide the safest educational environment possible to our pupils. We applaud their efforts. We support the use of masks in our schools to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread to teachers, classmates, and ancillary staff. We hope the planning efforts of the past six months will ensure a safe and fruitful educational year for all students of northeastern Montana.

We are concerned with Montana High School Association's decision to participate in fall athletics. Although we are all antsy to return to normal routines, we encourage all of you to consider what is most important. This is not a typical year. We face challenges that were unfathomable a few months ago. Be vigilant and we can get through this together. It is not possible to appropriately social distance during football, hockey, basketball, volleyball, wrestling, etc. The nature of these athletic competitions exposes our pupils to one another in close proximity, but also brings communities in contact with one another. Participation in athletics effectively negates the cohort plans within our respective schools. We are concerned at the increased risk of COVID-19 spread during these exposures. The past few weeks have shown the consequences of poor social distancing practices.

We understand that parents may wish to keep potential exposure to COVID-19 from public knowledge, feeling that this may delay their child's participation in the athletic season. There have been some discussions of refusing to participate in requested contact tracing/testing. We implore parents to make decisions for the health of their child, the children around them, and the health of our entire community.

 This is going to be a difficult year. Please consider delaying, cancelling, or withholding participation in athletics to keep our schools open for educational experiences.

Sincerely,

The Medical Staff of Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital

Kevin Ross, MD

Anne Millard, MD

Nicole Lorenz, MD

David Knierim, MD

Andrew Fahlgren, MD

Louis Bailey, DO

Curtis Campbell, DO

Christina Hartshorn, FNP-C

Desiree Cavan, FNP

Kari Wiens, FNP

James Martin, PhD

Jace Ball, PA-C

Chelsea Headley, PA-C

Lisa Ball, CRNA

Jeremy Stringer, CRNA