Arizona Republic: Arizona Should Recover Faster Because It Made Such Wise COVID-19 Decisions
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Dr. Richard Carmona, Former U.S. Surgeon General
Arizona Republic
May 27, 2021
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Opinion: How's Arizona doing with COVID-19 compared to other states? As a former surgeon general who lives here, I'd say pretty well, all things considered.
It’s been 15 of the longest months anyone can remember.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to face multiple challenges simultaneously. There was fear of the unknown dangers of the disease. There was economic disruption caused by job loss and shutdowns of entire industries. And there was familial and societal impacts – from us not being able to gather to schoolchildren not able to attend classes.
We’ve learned a lot: Masks worked. So did social distancing and washing hands. Broad shutdowns likely slowed the spread, but carried a heavy price. Vaccines are miracles of science. And Americans are willing to do our fair share to fight disease.
As a former surgeon general who lives here in Arizona, I’m often asked, “How’s Arizona doing compared to other states?”
I’d say pretty well, all things considered.
Many factors made Arizona's job harder
In Arizona, we had to deal with multiple issues that made circumstances more difficult for health care officials than in other states. Specifically, we have a large percentage of senior citizen residents, a long border with Mexico, a destination and temporary residence for thousands of snowbirds, and ongoing health disparities in tribal communities.
Despite it all, Arizona persevered. Our hospitals were never overrun, although at times they were quite stressed.
The chief health officer, Dr. Cara Christ, proved to be an effective administrator and spokesperson. Hospital executives gave her high marks for coordination and communication during the pandemic. The vaccine program she’s overseen has proven to be highly effective, and she’s been a reassuring presence on television and at vaccination sites across the state.
Gov. Doug Ducey, too, deserves recognition for steadiness during the pandemic. The governor was consistent in focusing on outcomes, by ensuring that everyone had access to quality care in our hospital system. That included adequate funding to hospitals and working to bring out-of-state nurses to serve patients during times of highest surge.
Ducey, universities struck the right balance
Arizona avoided the lurching back and forth between opening and shutting that other states did.
Thanks largely to Ducey’s balanced approach, we’re emerging with a robust economy that is going to help get our state back to some sense of normalcy sooner than other states.
These days if the Lockdown Left is unhappy, and COVID-Denying Conservatives are unhappy, then you’re probably in the right spot, and he is.
And finally, the University of Arizona – an organization that I was directly involved with as incident commander – along with others, including university president Dr. Robert Robbins – was an innovative leader in mass housing, detection, quarantining and recovery.
The university’s leadership and students demonstrated effective mitigation and response efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19 on campus, allowing students to continue to participate in their world-class learning environment and even have in-person graduation ceremonies earlier this month.
As we find the 'new normal,' say thanks
From a holistic perspective, I’m confident that Arizona will recover from COVID-19 faster than many other states. Our economy will rebound faster and other maladies associated with the last 15 months – depression, alcoholism, unemployment, suicide, opioid addiction – will hopefully be ameliorated soon.
None of this will comfort the families of the more than 17,000 Arizonans who died from COVID-19. That number is a tragedy, and the horrible thing about pandemics is the indiscriminate nature of the people who are victims. We mourn all of them and we have great sympathy for their families.
And yet here we are, with more than three million Arizonans vaccinated and life returning to what probably will be the new “normal.” We weathered the storm, and even though it was turbulent at times, we hung together and cared for one another.
The skill of the health care professionals, the generosity of charitable organizations such as food banks, the help of the National Guard, the dedication of police, firefighters, grocery workers and other essential workers, and solid leadership from state and local officials helped get us through.
As Arizonans we should say, “Thank you to all involved.”
Although we hope that it will be another century before we have to endure another pandemic, there are many lessons we have learned to be better prepared for any future “all hazards” threats.
Dr. Richard Carmona served as the U.S. surgeon general from 2002-2006.
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