(soft upbeat music) - Hello, and welcome to Prairie Pulse.

Coming up a little bit later in the show, we'll hear a performance from Hailey James, and we'll learn more about Giving Hearts Day.

But first joining me now is Dr. Avish Nagpal, the Sanford Health Infectious Disease Specialist.

Dr. Nagpal, thanks for joining us today.

- Thank you for having me in your studio.

- As we get started, tell the folks a little bit about yourself and your background.

- Sure, I did my initial medical school in India, and then I moved over to Kentucky to do Masters in Public Health.

And then I moved to Fargo to do my internal medicine residency, 2007 to 2010.

And I did it at Sanford, which was at that time, Medicare.

And then I spent three years doing fellowship in infectious disease down at Mayo Clinic, Rochester.

And then I came back to work here in Fargo at Sanford, and I've been here since 2013.

- Okay, so since 2013.

Well we want to talk about COVID obviously today, unfortunately we continue to, sounds like, let's talk about the Omicron variant.

We're starting to see cases peak maybe, and you can tell me more about that, but they're going down maybe in other areas.

Can you just talk about what's going on in our region?

- Yeah, nationally, definitely, I can say with confidence that we have peaked and our numbers are way down, if you look at the 14 day rolling average of the number of cases.

And if I may dare say, it looks like we may be in the same boat there, we may have attained our peak last week and it looks like this week, our numbers are down.

Again, numbers can fluctuate on a daily basis, but we are looking at a 14 day rolling average, and it does seem that we may have hit the peak already.

- Well, you know, are you hopeful that this might, and I say might, be the last major variant, or of course the virus mutates, right?

- Yeah, all I can tell you that this is not the last variant.

We'll see more, but hopefully we will not be in as precarious of a situation as with previous variants and this variant.

- Yeah, you talked about, maybe the cases are starting to decline in our region, but can you talk more about how it's affected people and what's going on with that?

- Yeah, so, you know, if you look at, in your neighborhood or your coworkers, I don't think there's any family that's not had a case of COVID now.

So it's been hard, but at the same time, remember that, you know, we are just past our peak or close to it, so the community transmission is still very high.

So we still need to practice a little bit of restraint and protect ourselves for the next three to four weeks, at least for the month of February, as we head into spring and summer, I think we'll have a normal, you know, we can resume our normal activities here.

But we still have a very high transmission and a shortage of treatment options for mild cases in the outpatient settings, so be a little careful, still.

- Well, I hope normal means something different than it has for the last two years.

Talk about what's the current vaccination rate in North Dakota and maybe what's your message to people who are still unvaccinated.

- Yeah, so if talking about people who have completed their series, we are a little above 60%, I think, 62, 63%, that's where we are at.

And the people who haven't got the vaccine yet, that's a hard group to convince.

Sometimes you're fighting core beliefs and you know, there's no public message I could give at this point in time that would convince everybody.

These are patients who have questions about their specific health condition, which is extremely valid, but you should ask those, or discuss those questions with your doctor or physician, and they are in the best position to answer your questions.

You can always look up on CDC website, FDA website, they have a wealth of information, but for your specific questions and needs, I think, that has to be a one-on-one discussion with doctors, your personal wants, and they will be in the best position to convince those unvaccinated people to move ahead and get the vaccination.

- I've had people ask me that if they've had COVID, well they say, well I don't have to get vaccinated now because I've had COVID.

What's sort of the answer to that, or what's the discussion around that?

- Yeah, so I think that's a valid question.

Having a natural infection does provide you with some immunity.

Just like the vaccine, that immunity also wains over time.

So if you've had COVID, you're probably protected for a few months here, but once you have had infection for three months, then I would encourage you to go ahead and get the vaccination because your natural immunity also starts waning by that time.

- You know, social media is a good thing.

But it can be, sometimes it's interesting, because where do you get trusted information?

And people say a lot of things about COVID.

So what's again your recommendation for where to go and get information, and how to deal with all the talk and clutter that's out there?

- Yeah, so misinformation is our biggest battle right now, and we are losing it badly.

And you know, there's a wealth of information out there for people to see and read if they make the effort.

The problem is that the trusted sources of information that we rely on, CDC and FDA, they are a little bit unpopular right now because people don't have trust in government, and these are seen as government agencies.

But, you know, they might get funding from government, but they are run by scientists who really know what they are doing and are the experts in their fields.

So I still recommend, you know, checking CDC website for the definitive information.

But if there are people who don't trust the agency or don't trust a website for everything, or don't understand what's on the website, then the best thing to do is talk to your primary doctor and have them interpret that for you in your context.

- Okay, let's talk, or ask you to talk about those infected with Omicron.

Anecdotally, they don't seem to be getting as sick, the ones I know, is that true, or what are you, what do you see in the medical area?

- So that is true.

The hospitalization rate for Omicron seems to be about 50% as compared to what we saw at Delta, Alpha, Beta, other variants that we saw previously.

However, it is highly transmissible.

We see everywhere that case numbers are three to four times more than what we had with the previous variants.

So even if the hospitalization risk is 50%, that's still a significant strain on hospital capacity.

And we have been running above capacity for two years now.

And also at the same time, Omicron variant has kind of knocked out two of the treatments that we rely on, the monoclonal antibodies.

We still have one that works against Omicron, but we lost two.

So we have severe treatment shortage in the outpatient setting.

So I think just relying on the fact that it's 50% less risk of complications from COVID 19 doesn't give us a pass.

I think we still have to be careful.

- Is the Delta variant still out there or is it not?

- Yeah, so, you know, it's not going to suddenly disappear from the face of the planet.

As per the last statement by CDC, 99.5% of our cases are Omicron right now.

So there may be a few pockets of Delta and we have to continue to monitor and see if it makes a rebound.

Hopefully not, but once the Omicron cases start climbing down, I think we need to continue monitoring for different variants because I'm sure we'll see one, a new one, or resurgence of an old one.

- Yeah, you talked about hospital capacity and basically been a capacity for a couple of years.

And I was visiting somebody and saw the stats of COVID patients skewed highly toward the unvaccinated.

But is that really the case?

- Yeah, absolutely.

You know, pictures speak a thousand words.

That's why we put out that graphic, about 80% of our cases are in unvaccinated people.

So even though unvaccinated individuals make up a small minority overall, but they still contribute to the maximum hospitalizations.

- Yeah, are hospital workers getting, I mean, we're all getting burned out, but what's going on with staffing at hospitals and medical centers?

- That's our biggest concern right now, staff attrition.

Just like all industries, we are struggling with staffing, and to keep the morale up for two years of constant increased workload at the same time when they have restrictions placed on their social gatherings, because of COVID-19, is a really big challenge.

We recognize that and we want our healthcare workers to have, you know, long and fulfilling professional careers and enjoy their personal life too.

So having realized that, we offer a lot of resources for counseling onsite or online.

And I think we as humans, whether we are healthcare workers or not, need time and space to process our complex emotions.

So we encourage peer support more than anything else, which helps people talk through things, and come to terms with what we have to deal with.

You know, not only is it important for mental health of the healthcare workers, we also don't want them to have lack of empathy for people who are either unvaccinated or don't follow guidance.

We need them to understand that this is normal human behavior, and people's choices does not mean that we, that we cannot be empathetic towards them.

We will treat everybody who comes through our door with respect.

- A related question, flu season, flu and cold season.

Last year, there was very little of it with hand sanitizer, masks, distancing.

This year, it seems like more people are getting cold and flu.

Can you talk about that?

- Sure, you know, if you ever needed proof that masks work in preventing respiratory infection, here's your natural experiment.

And the results of those are that when people were wearing masks widely, they were being widely used, we had no flu, no RSV, an extremely low number of cases of common cold.

This year we don't have too much mask use, and influenza RSV, common, cold, they all come roaring back.

In fact, we did have a little bit of a peak of influenza cases around mid-December, just before Omicron started to surge.

And now we are seeing a little bit less flu activity, but it's out there.

And I think we'll see more influenza cases as our COVID numbers start declining over the course of this month.

- Okay, well, we're out of time here, but if people want more information, where can they go?

Who can they contact?

- You know, starting with your doctor is always a great idea.

They are in the best position to answer your questions in your context.

But if you are looking for actual data or, you know, an overview of things, CDC has a great website with a lot of details, if you care to look.

They actually have a dashboard called FluView.

Very nice and impressive, very easy to understand, tells you how many flu cases, what strain, which parts of the country are seeing more flu activity, in very graphical form.

One of my favorite resources to look up all things influenza and COVID-19.

- Well Dr. Nagpal, thanks for joining us today.

- Absolutely, my pleasure.

- Stay tuned, up next, Pat Traynor will tell us about Giving Hearts Day.

(soft upbeat music) And welcome back.

Joining me now is Pat Traynor, the Executive Director for the Dakota Medical Foundation.

Pat, thanks so much for joining us.

- Great to be with you today.

- Well you're here to talk about Giving Hearts Day, but before we get started, tell us about you and your background real quick.

- Well, I've been with Dakota Medical Foundation since 2000.

We created the Impact Foundation in 2004.

And I know we're here to talk about Giving Hearts Day, you know, that was an idea of one of our teammates, and that started in 2008.

And it's really co-hosted by the Alex Stern Family Foundation and Dakota Medical Foundation.

And, you know, way back in 2008, we had 40 charities involved, and this year, well over 500.

So it's been an incredible journey and we have hundreds, in fact, thousands, those people that give every year, to thank for that tremendous success.

- You do.

Well let's back up, I've got all kinds of questions, but tell us, what is that Impact Institute, what is it?

- That Impact Institute was really created by the Alex Stern Family Foundation and Dakota Medical Foundation to help charities become extraordinary at producing results, and in particular friend-raising.

So we teach charities all year long how to reach more and more donors or potential donors, volunteers, people that will be supporters.

We like to say, you know, first of all, no money, no mission.

And then secondly, the charity that really has the most friends really becomes the most successful.

So we wanna teach everyone how to unleash that potential to friend-raise - Okay, well, so let's talk about Giving Hearts Day.

It's what you're here mainly to talk about.

What is it and when is it?

- So we like to think about it as the greatest day of the year for giving, volunteering, and really connecting with your heart with one of these charities across North Dakota and Northwest Minnesota.

So it's 24 hours of giving on givingheartsday.org.

And this year, you know, you still have pre-giving, so they can still go to that website.

Families have created traditions around giving, volunteering, and then selecting one or more of these charities to participate with and support.

So $10 or more, or pledge to volunteer, or pledge to drop off a good at a charity.

And they're all listed on that givingheartsday.org.

All the volunteer opportunities, all the things that you could possibly support, and then all the ways that you could possibly become involved by dropping off any kind of good, from hats, mittens, gloves, to food, to hammers, and nails, and also, from A to Z.

So we do like to say that this platform, this Giving Hearts Day platform, really brings out the best in each and every one of us to help our neighbor.

- Yeah, you talked a little bit about how it got started, and I think you said from 40 to 500 charities involved.

When you started, I know you had a vision, but have you succeeded there?

Have you gone well beyond that or is there more growth to be had?

- Oh, there's unlimited potential of these charities to tap into the communities that surround them.

And, you know, with online giving, you can tap into the human heart from all across America and all across the globe.

So we think that we've just scraped the surface and I would tell you that it is a team sport.

It isn't just our vision.

It's the collective vision of all those charities, all those generous donors, all those people that are a part of something beyond themselves, which really makes this the greatest region on the planet, I think, in terms of kindness, generosity.

- Well when you started too, wasn't more you had to be medical, maybe, related, and then it's grown from there?

- Yes, as you know, Dakota Medical Foundation used to own Dakota Hospital.

And so for a couple of years, you know, we were just health-related and just limited in that kind of belief that we should probably just support health-related things.

And then we realized that there's so many other things that help people grow and people thrive and people lead healthy lives, body, mind, and spirit.

And we also realized that if we're gonna put in all these dollars to host the day, we may as well invite everyone to be a part of the day.

And you know, people go on Giving Hearts Day and give to Prairie Public, but they also give to the zoo, they give to our health care facilities, they give to hospice, they give to their hometown of Grafton, or Cando, North Dakota.

So it really spreads like wildfire.

And that's really what we're after is, because people have differing views on what they wanna support.

And then they realize, oh, maybe I ought to give to another one.

So it's really been a tremendous tidal wave of generosity by us unlocking any of those limitations that we had at the beginning, in terms of just health-related charities.

So great question, and thanks for asking it.

- Yeah, so do you have a goal, a monetary goal, or numbers goal for this year?

- This year, we want to exceed 75,000 people giving, volunteering, or donating goods.

And I would tell you that last year, 42,000 people stepped up and gave on Giving Hearts Day.

Over $22 million raised last year, over 112 million raised since those early days in 2008.

And so it's just incredible that outpouring of generosity.

And then there are all sorts of fun contests, you know, that bring the awareness level up, which is really, you know, social media and the advent of all these new things since we started in 2008, really can exponentially accelerate a charity's success.

- Yeah, what do the charities have to do leading up to Giving Hearts Day?

- So everyone has to apply to be involved in giving hearts day and everyone, and the reason we do that is we want to prepare them to become extraordinary friend-raisers.

So there's all sorts of training that frankly begins in May, and June, and July.

And so these charities have been preparing and also honing their skills to ask for major gifts, to build the best messaging and marketing campaigns.

And then also to work on gratitude.

You know, gratitude's the number one thing that will keep people a part of your mission, that people understand that they're appreciated, and that they're actually on the same side of the table, they're part of the team that's doing good for others.

And it's been extraordinary, you know, what a, you'll get a thank you when you give on Giving Hearts Day, $10 or more, you should get a thank you that day or within 24 hours.

And it's so important because people remember that.

They remember that every gift matters every time, you know, time, talent, or treasure, every bit of it matters, but people need to realize they're part of the same team, and gratitude is one way to do that, timely gratitude.

It's the number one reason people don't give the second time.

- They were forgotten.

- People forgot to thank 'em.

- What about the sweepstakes?

You, you told me a little bit about that, but what is that?

- Very exciting.

We have all these businesses that stepped up and are funding the sweepstakes, the grand prize donated by Gate City.

So everyone that gives there's a 2022 Trail Boss Silverado.

It's just a huge gift to create awareness, and it's part of their commitment to a better way of life, but also just spreading the awareness of this tremendous day to salute and be a part of something beyond ourselves, one or more of these 500 charities.

And then we have $1,000 golden tickets throughout the day.

So everyone that pledges to volunteer, or gives $10 or more on givingheartsday.org, is in a chance for their charity to win from 1,000 to $10,000.

And we have, go to givingheartsday.org and find out.

But we also have a $25,000 cash award for those folks that wanna produce a TikTok video.

Now you and I probably gotta involve our kids or grandkids to help us with this.

And it is fun though.

I wanna tell you it's a blast.

There are already several of them.

We just unveiled this yesterday, but Bell Bank sponsored it.

25,000 and it's a random drawing.

So I don't care how goofy your video is, you're in the drawing for your charity that you nominate, so your charity can win $25,000, spectacular, exciting, you know?

Where can we do that for a charity?

- There's so much going on.

But you talked about giving purpose and meaning by giving.

Talk about that a little more.

- Well, perhaps the most important thing that giving days and volunteering, and being a part of something beyond ourselves, is the transformation that happens to the giver themselves.

You know, there's science behind the givers glow, and it's real.

Do we feel good when we do an act of kindness?

Absolutely, that's the way it's been designed.

And so it's so important, you know, after a couple of years of isolation, and after canceled events, and not being with our loved ones, as much as we would have liked to, to be a part of our community.

So we really wanna invite every single person to be a part of this.

And all the science tells us that it's good for our soul, it's good for our health, and those people that have meaning and purpose in their lives lead much more joyful lives.

And so we're inviting everyone to be a part of this.

This is one way to express that, by getting involved with charity.

- Yeah, I know Pat, you've been on for 15 years doing this and it's become kind of a giving day, and people, 'cause you can log in and you know what you gave last year, - Yes.

- and you can just redo it.

But if people want more information, 'cause there's a lot of information we're not covering, probably, and they want more, where can they go?

Where can they find out more?

- Givingheartsday.org, or you can call DMF at any time.

We're all there 24/7 at this point.

And we're just so grateful for the outpouring of support.

We're gonna break all records, and thanks for having me here today.

- Well, Pat, we look forward to seeing that heart suit again.

- You will see it though.

- Thanks for joining us today.

- Take care.

- Stay tuned for more (soft upbeat music) - Hailey James is a musical star on the rise.

As a singer songwriter, she's been performing since the age of 14.

She learned how to play the guitar from watching YouTube and her dream is to share her music on a national level.

(upbeat guitar music) ♪ The clock says 2:00 a.m. ♪ ♪ And my phone screen's black again ♪ ♪ 'Cause you ain't callin' anymore ♪ ♪ We used to stay up all night ♪ ♪ 'Cause I never got tired ♪ ♪ Of hearin' you on the other line ♪ ♪ But that was before ♪ ♪ Before I ever thought that you would ever leave me ♪ ♪ And now it hurts so badly, I can't sleep ♪ ♪ I'm layin' here in these sheets but it ain't the same ♪ ♪ Now it's silent here, things have changed ♪ ♪ It hurts too to see you ♪ ♪ And that's what my dreams do ♪ ♪ So now I got to forget your voice and forget your face ♪ ♪ Yeah but boy you're part of me ♪ ♪ And those memories that we made ♪ ♪ They just won't stay away ♪ ♪ And they're keeping me wide awake ♪ ♪ Wide awake ♪ ♪ Wide awake ♪ ♪ Wide awake ♪ ♪ You knew that roses ♪ ♪ They were my favorite ♪ ♪ I still remember the dress ♪ ♪ I wore when you gave me them ♪ ♪ And there's a vase next to my bed but now its empty ♪ ♪ It was filled with my favorite thing ♪ ♪ Love I used to be feeling ♪ ♪ Oh in these sheets but it ain't the same ♪ ♪ Now it's silent here, things have changed ♪ ♪ It hurts too to see you ♪ ♪ And that's what my dreams do ♪ ♪ So now I got to forget your voice and forget your face ♪ ♪ Yeah but boy you're part of me ♪ ♪ And those memories that we made ♪ ♪ They just won't stay away ♪ ♪ And they're keeping me wide awake ♪ ♪ Wide awake ♪ ♪ Wide awake ♪ ♪ Wide awake ♪ ♪ Yeah they're keepin' me wide awake ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ I'm layin' here in these sheets but it ain't the same ♪ ♪ Now it's silent here, things have changed ♪ ♪ It hurts too to see you ♪ ♪ And that's what my dreams do ♪ ♪ So now I got to forget your voice and forget your face ♪ ♪ Yeah but boy you're part of me ♪ ♪ And those memories that we made ♪ ♪ They just won't stay away ♪ ♪ And they're keeping me wide awake ♪ ♪ Wide awake ♪ ♪ Wide awake ♪ ♪ Wide awake ♪ ♪ Yeah they're keepin' me wide awake ♪ ♪ Wide awake ♪ ♪ Wide awake ♪ ♪ Wide awake ♪ ♪ Yeah they're keepin' me wide awake ♪ ♪ I'm wide awake ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ - Well, that's all we have on Prairie Pulse for this week.

And as always, thanks for watching.

(soft upbeat music) - [Announcer] Funded by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, with money from the Vote of the People of Minnesota on November 4th, 2008, and by the members of Prairie Public.