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The Oregon Academy of Family physicians, which represents more than 1,700 physicians, family medicine residents and medical students across the state, is calling on state and local leaders to issue stay-at-home orders for every community to further slow the spread of COVID-19.
“We believe a statewide stay-at-home order is the best next step to take, quickly, to show the seriousness of the situation we face in Oregon. These orders can be structured to allow people to get essential healthcare and public services, buy necessities, and even exercise if they follow common-sense social distancing measures. We have examples to follow through the leadership of other states and cities across the country, who are taking drastic action to reduce the risk of COVID-19 in their communities; this is the best hope we have to keep our healthcare system from being overwhelmed,” said OAFP President Ruth Chang, MD, MPH, FAAFP.
“COVID-19 is here in every community in Oregon, and we’re seeing that encouraging people to follow social distancing rules isn’t enough; parents need the support of an order to help their kids understand the seriousness of the challenge we face. We need to take these steps now to keep our healthcare system from breaking down under the strain of the coming surge. We can flatten the curve if we take this step in conjunction with the other steps we have taken as a state,” said Stewart Decker, MD, OAFP Vice President and Chair of the OAFP Commission on External Affairs.
The OAFP joins the American Academy of Family Physicians in calling on Congress to ensure that more Americans can access healthcare from their providers via telemedicine, to demand more testing kits to help better identify cases in our communities, and to ensure physicians have the personal protective equipment they need to continue to treat all patients safely.
The Oregon Academy of Family Physicians is a membership organization for more than 1600 physicians, residents, and medical students across the state who provide primary care for Oregonians. Our members practice in clinics large and small, in emergency departments and urgent care clinics, and provide primary care for everyone from infants to pregnant women to senior citizens.
