ANNOUNCER: Make the choice to begin anywhere in your life and the journey has started.

And along the way, be inspired.

Listen to the stories by joining the president of Howard University, Dr. Wayne A.I.

Frederick, on "The Journey."

Since the COVID virus pandemic began, Howard University Hospital has been at the forefront of treating and protecting Black men and women right here in Washington, D.C., from the effects of COVID-19.

And now with the initial rollout of vaccines, the hospital is playing a critical role in distributing vaccinations and moving our community closer to a return to normal.

Hello, my name is Dr. Wayne Frederick, and my guest today is Howard University Hospital CEO Anita Jenkins.

She's gonna join me for a timely conversation about the state of the pandemic and its impact on the local community.

So welcome, again.

ANITA: It's my pleasure to be here, thank you.

So since we had you in May, I'm not gonna grill you too much about (Anita laughs) your background this time.

We're gonna focus more on what's going on at the hospital.

So since I had you in May, what has changed about the pandemic for Howard University Hospital?

So in May, we had been fighting the COVID vaccine.

We had expanded our rooms.

We got better at treating COVID, paying attention to the CDC guidelines and hospital systems all over the country, working with our scientists at the university to treat COVID well.

And we have COVID units and COVID-trained nurses.

And then we had a little bit of a lull, and then prepared for the second wave.

So it's been a long journey, but when we started to hear about the possibility of an FDA-approved vaccine, that's when things really started getting exciting.

So we've also done the vaccine journey as well.

Okay, and when I look at, in terms of the volumes, we know the volumes are down at present.

Are they down past where the prior surge was or are they down past the first surge?

They are not down past the first surge.

We went down to possibly 10 patients, eight patients in the hospital, and we're still a little bit above that, but quite manageable because we have our specialty COVID units now.

We also are able to test.

Since then, we have three platforms that test for our COVID tests.

So all patients that come in our ER, come in for our surgeries, we know the status of their situation.

And they are either placed on our COVID unit or on our non-COVID floors.

You know, let's explore that a little further.

One of the concerns was people coming to the hospital, period.

When people come to your emergency room, no COVID symptoms.

Let's say somebody comes with abdominal pain and they get admitted to the hospital.

Are you testing everyone who gets admitted or you testing based on their presentation?

100% of our patients are being tested.

It is for their good and ours that we make sure that we understand the status of our patients.

Sometimes it does make, we have to explain a little bit, but we wanna make sure that they're safe and that they're treated properly.

So if you're coming in for some abdominal pain, we also would make sure that you are taken care, we're taking care of your COVID.

Excellent.

And once they get into the hospital, I would suspect that every unit, as I've been walking through the hospital myself, are observing the protocols.

We have medical students, you have custodial staff, et cetera.

In terms of vaccination, what has been the protocol at the hospital when you began distributing the vaccines, and has that been changing recently?

So we started, and we are following the D.C. Health and the D.C. Hospital Association and our worldwide guidelines.

So we are vaccinating according to our levels.

So our first phase, of course, was our frontline workers.

All of our physicians, our nurses, our doctors, our caregivers, our environmental service workers were given the opportunity to get that vaccine, which we had to do some talking, maybe we'll talk about that a little bit, about the acceptance of taking the vaccine.

And so we worked very, very hard to do that.

We then went into Phase 2, I mean that next, 1b, which was vaccinating 65 year olds and above.

Mm-hm, so exactly, let's jump into that.

ANITA: Sure.

You led the way by taking the vaccine yourself.

Let's start with you first.

What was your experience like taking both doses?

There have been reports around the country of mild symptoms, some allergic reactions, but what was your own personal experience?

I thank you very much for giving me this platform because I wanna back up to when we first started talking about the possibility of a vaccine.

I had a meeting with all of my directors, our routine meeting.

I was excited to hear that finally, after this long, long fight to fight COVID, its disease, and the concepts that Black and brown people get it and die from it about three times more (Anita laughs) than others, we wanted to, I was excited about the vaccine.

And as I started talking about when we will get the vaccine and how we will do it, on the chat room on Zoom, I started getting, I'm concerned about that.

I don't know.

What about Tuskegee?

What about experiments on us?

And then I started getting a little bit of, but if you take it, I'll take it.

I knew we had to start communicating the facts and figures.

Even though we had the employees that had given care to these COVID patients, stood by them, even in death, they were afraid themselves of the vaccine.

So every day, I started sending out an email Q and A, three to four questions.

And then I offered them, if you have more questions, email me this number and I will respond to you.

And so, of course, my great (Wayne laughs) scientists at Howard University and (Anita laughs) Howard University Hospital were my subject matter experts, but I answered those employees.

Some of them were simple.

I'm trying to have children.

Would this affect me?

I'm nursing, will this affect me?

And then some of them were, I heard it will change your DNA.

Or, I heard that it's not tested.

So we were able to provide facts every day, facts every day.

And some of those questions, I made them those next day Q and A because if that person is wondering, so is the rest of my team.

That's exactly right.

We did a small, but statistically significant, sample.

70% of our employees did not want to take the vaccine.

Wow.

Either not at all or were hesitant.

And so I felt it very important personally for me to do my part because they were saying, "Well, really, if you take it, I'll take it."

Our director of environmental services, Mr. Dunlap, he and I were there that day, along with you, not to get it first, but to be an example of watch me, talk to me, call me up, email me, watch the Facebook because we also put it on Facebook.

Hey, it's been four days.

I'm good.

Right.

So that we would make people feel a little bit more comfortable.

Some of my language was personal.

I remember as a child seeing braces and leather straps and wheelchairs, and hearing of iron lungs, right?

I said, "Why don't we see that today?

"Because of a successful polio vaccine."

And I said, "You didn't question how that was done."

I do trust that science.

And we did have to build up some hope because medical care has often failed Black and brown people.

So I don't blame anyone for questions.

I do wanna help save lives.

Right, now, it's interesting because these are people who work in the hospital.

So we can imagine out in the community, there's even more hesitance- Correct.

If not resistance.

Apart from you taking it, as you mentioned, Mr. Dunlap, your environmental services head, also took it.

What impact did that have for frontline employees, especially among the custodial staff, in the cafeteria, seeing that?

What do you think that did in terms of changing their mind?

It was very impactful.

We had a significant number.

And as we talked with hospitals all over the area, there were many hospitals who, that particular group, the environmental services or dietary, they were super hesitant because healthcare is not as present, or they might not understand healthcare processes or scientific processes, maybe.

And so it was very important.

We actually had one of our highest employee group responses because he actually took that vaccine and they were able to observe him.

Right, that's amazing.

Now, as you started distributing the vaccine within the hospital, have you seen a change in either the morale, the confidence or, for that matter, people probably getting a little complacent about the rules and regulations?

We cannot stop talking about the science because some people were like, okay, well, I've had my two vaccines.

I don't have to wear my mask anymore.

I don't have to wash my hands anymore.

And that answer is a resounding no.

(Wayne laughs) We still have to protect each other.

The science says you still can kind of carry.

And it's 95, 94, 95%.

I wanna protect myself from 5% chance of (Anita laughs) getting COVID.

So we just have to make sure we're following science and staying safe.

And in terms of the morale, do you think people are a little more comfortable, especially as the numbers are going down?

I think the psychological burden of frontline workers was something that we were talking about last time.

And do you think some of that is being lifted?

I do.

I think they understand that they are a little safer, that we've got some light at the end of the tunnel.

I mean, that's important.

So once we got past that fear or some misgivings about the vaccine, they certainly feel now, hm, maybe I am okay and maybe I will be able to have a family dinner someday if we all get our vaccines.

Okay.

And then some of the improvements you did in the hospital and the expansions, obviously, were to accommodate those patients, especially when you look at ICU care, et cetera.

What has been the cost in terms of that type of expense that you've had to put out?

Granted, D.C. government gave you a grant- Absolutely.

As well, but what has been the financial impact of all of this on the hospital, especially with decreasing the ambulatory care services?

So the financial impact on hospitals all over the country has been significant.

It still costs us more for daily care.

We have to pay for PPE.

We have to pay for isolation rooms.

We have to pay for different processes.

We have to pay for a different type of nursing.

Nursing has been greatly impacted.

Some nurses chose this is just too much.

I'm going to retire.

Or some nurses chose, you know, I can get agency money and I can go somewhere else.

This is not just a Howard phenomenon.

This is everywhere.

So when you start talking about the change in personnel, making sure that we're keeping up with that, making sure we're keeping up with the current, the care types that we have.

It costs us to give 100% of the people that come into the building a COVID test.

And that's okay.

We're doing that work.

But we also are seeing a cost that people are still hesitant to come into the hospital.

We are not seeing the same level of volumes in our emergency services or in our doctors visits.

And so that is a message that we really wanna keep telling the public: Do not hesitate to come and get your care.

We will keep you safe.

We're keeping ourselves safe.

Please come and take care.

Right, and then, I guess the other thing is you saw what happened in the hospital with the hesitancy.

How much of the community hesitancy are you seeing as you opened up to bringing in folks who are 65 and over, those now with comorbidities?

And I believe that the mayor has recently extended, as well, to some frontline workers in certain categories.

That's correct.

This week or next week, we start with some frontline workers.

We have also expanded it to some comorbidities, and so that piece has rolled out.

We are still seeing hesitancy.

And we have had really robust opportunities to speak with clergy and congregations to tell that story.

We have to start building a chain and line of trust.

And if they don't trust my voice, they might trust their pastor's voice.

They might trust their pastor's wife's voice.

So I'm not even sure how many of these calls and Zoom calls that we have had to talk about the facts, to give that perspective and to even just give my experience.

I'm okay.

It's been a month and 1/2 since I've had my vaccines.

I'm doing well.

And I have a level of confidence and peace because I am safer each and every day.

Right, and one of the things that I've been trying to talk about is trusted messengers.

Yes.

Clearly, Howard University Hospital is a trusted messenger- Absolutely.

In the community.

What have you been seeing or hearing from the community around getting that message from a trusted messenger versus a message that they may just get from the CDC that they are trying to decipher, et cetera?

You're making me smile.

You know, you don't know how much you're loved until you have these types of crises.

When Howard university and the faculty practice plan, FPP, opened up, along with the hospital had their clinic, when they opened up that clinic, we almost couldn't keep up with it.

And as a matter of fact, there were times when all of the states, of course, and District weren't even getting enough vaccine.

We had way more people than we had vaccine.

That tells me that we were a trusted messenger and that they trusted our science and they were coming.

It was beautiful to see people walking up, standing in line.

There were people that knew what time we closed, and stood in line just in case we had a leftover vaccine.

We would make more just in case.

It has been really beautiful.

And then the language that you're getting back.

We were treated so well.

They helped us.

They're explaining what's going on and then giving me my vaccine.

I am so proud to be a part of this organization at this time, where we are that source to protect our community.

It's a beautiful thing to see.

And I wanna expand on that because the vaccination centers are using students who are volunteering, et cetera.

And then you have the elderly African-American community coming out.

Just from a social point of view, what does that mean, do you think, both for those young people who are seeing it, coming into a career and this is their kind of entry point?

And to the people who are at the tail end of their lives, have seen so much turmoil in America, including this pandemic, but at the very end of it for them, at least in terms of getting a vaccine?

Hopefully, they're seeing something very different.

I wanna say two words.

I'm gonna say, or three.

(Anita and Wayne laugh) True service and hope.

To have our physicians and our residents and our students supporting an endeavor like this, they know that they are doing a real service that's turning our nation's, our country, our world's picture around.

When you start talking about a worldwide pandemic, and then you have this effort that you are just putting out that fire, putting out that fire with vaccines, I know that they feel like they have really done something good and something strong.

How do our seniors feel?

It was depressing and demoralizing not to be able to take care of yourself and you weren't safe and you couldn't get out.

I know, I have aunties who are very sharp, incidentally (Wayne laughs) and they are about 80.

And I had my COVID conversation, my (Wayne laughs) vaccine conversation with them.

One lives in Atlanta, one lives in Alabama.

And they are just thrilled.

I was so glad to go get my.

You know, now I can go and now I can.

It is hope.

Their lives are not over and they do have social lives, and we've given 'em that hope.

That's excellent.

Now, just to change gears, another side of this pandemic is that, as you mentioned, people weren't coming in to the hospital for elective things.

So, for instance, cancer screenings, in some studies, was down about 89%.

There has been some recovery of it, but disproportionately.

It appears that African-Americans would still be behind in terms of that.

What is Howard University Hospital doing to try to catch up, and what do you foresee in the near future if that continues?

Part of my messaging in opportunities that I have been having with clergy, with people, with communities, I'm speaking to a group of young professionals this evening.

Right, now let's be very, very clear.

The spectrum of mistrust is not just in the older generation.

That younger generation is hesitant as well.

And so when I talk to them tonight, I absolutely will say, "You cannot put off your healthcare.

"You have to understand the science "and you have to trust someone "because if not, COVID will, "I mean, it is conceivable "that it will consume you."

And so I am telling that story in every public forum.

But we are also messaging on our Facebook pages or our ability for our websites, every opportunity that we have, we are retelling the story.

Now, please come back and get your care.

I do fear that we will have just an uptick in chronic diseases and their effects.

You know, that diabetes will have progressed worse.

That sickle cell has not been treated.

That hypertension, that cardiac disease, that hidden cardiac disease will be worsened because people have not come in or have ignored their symptoms.

I am concerned.

And when you look at something like mammograms, for instance, what's the decrease in the number of mammograms you think you've been performing, roughly, when you look at year over year?

We significantly decreased, possibly even 50%.

People were putting it off and not wanting to come in.

The good news is we now have a brand new mammogram machine.

We have a brand new DEXA machine.

And I've bought a lot in my career.

We have state-of-the-art mammo and DEXA at our organization.

And I, two weeks ago, wanted to make sure that my hospital, my team, my staff, knew that I visit Howard University Hospital for my care.

So I got my care there, and I went with a discerning eye.

Did the technician know what she was talking about?

How was my care, what was the environment?

And I'm working on all of that.

But if we do not, we will have advanced breast cancers that will really be devastating for people if we don't come in just for that simple screening.

And again, what protocol are you using?

So someone listening to this, they've missed their annual mammogram all year last year.

They have a history of a breast cancer.

They're nervous.

They're just as nervous about getting COVID.

They come in.

The person who's working with them from the front desk- Absolutely.

All the way to the person who's doing the mammogram, the radiologist who may read it and come over to chat to them, what can they expect in terms of safety protocols and what are you doing to ensure that they're safe?

I appreciate that question.

From the time they come in, it might seem a little bit fussy, but we wanna take your temperature.

We want you to wash your hands.

We will make sure that we know where you are going so that you are safe when you get there.

Our caregivers are required, of course, to wear masks and shields in patient care areas.

Are patients required to wear a mask, as well, when they come for tests?

Thank you.

Thank you for pointing that out.

Yes, you have to wear your mask all the time.

Not just according to the hospital, but that's D.C. regulations.

And so our entire area, we're keeping us all safe all the time.

And so they're going to see that.

They're going to see people washing their hands continually.

And so we're going to make sure that that environment is safe.

We will be swift with your testing and treatment.

We will get you home in a timely fashion so that you are not exposed.

And you will know that you have gotten great care at Howard University Hospital.

And what about any special cleaning protocols?

Because the machine- Oh, absolutely.

Is the same.

Absolutely.

I know people will probably be curious about the machines.

You will be required to distance as you come into the hospital, in the elevator, on the floor.

And you will see these spots.

You can only stand here, here, here and here.

You will be required to distance even when you go to your doctor's office and when you go to any kinds of testing, treatments, waiting areas.

When you get to those waiting areas, we constantly wipe off surfaces.

So when you start talking about cleanliness, from our EVS to our nurses, we have enhanced cleaning protocols with enhanced cleaning products to make sure that you are safe.

Okay, excellent.

Now, coming off of this pandemic, we all expect healthcare to change somewhat.

What are your expectations for what you think healthcare, as the macro throughout the country, to change?

And probably what specifically you think will change at Howard Hospital?

One thing, we have to look at that future about this particular pandemic, we do have variants in this virus, so I do expect for us to have masking, cleaning, temperature protocols for quite a long time.

I know that people want this to be over tomorrow.

I was just looking for what time the spring blossoms open up.

(Wayne laughs) And when I went to the site, it was like, no, no, no, we're not gonna tell you (Anita laughs) so that we won't have crowds.

I thought that was interesting.

We have to expect that we need to make sure we're getting over this.

We just celebrated 500,000, or celebrated, we just acknowledged 500,000 people have lost their lives.

I suspect that we will have cleanliness and safety protocols.

I suspect that we don't know what we don't know about continuing or booster vaccines.

I believe that we will definitely, for quite a while, still have COVID-19 on our lips, and that's okay.

But what we will be doing is we will understand how to take care of those kinds of patients and still take care of all kinds of patients.

People are still having heart attacks, traumas, babies, gallbladders, broken legs.

We will still be able to take care of that kind of work.

We have figured that out.

We know how to do COVID.

And I was talking to someone the other day.

I said, "Boy, we've got to build our volume."

And they were like, "We still have COVID patients."

Absolutely, we know how to do COVID.

Our COVID critical care patients is decreasing significantly.

We know that we are sending people home, even if they have symptoms, we're sending them home very quickly.

Five days or four days, you're well enough to go home.

We've got great drugs and great protocols.

We're better at it than we were a year ago.

We can be less afraid of it than we were a year ago.

It's been a year since you've been with us here at ANITA: To the week.

(Anita laughs) And we absolutely are much better for having you.

What has been surprising about the job based on when you were coming in and what thoughts you had?

And what so far you see for the future as you go forward?

So I started February 17th, 2020, (Anita and Wayne laugh) and COVID was like (Anita and Wayne laugh) right on our door.

So it was surprising to have to have this level of a distraction, and I had to think about that.

Everyone in the country, everyone in the world has to deal with this.

I just happened to be at a new place.

It afforded me to be able to see who needs help, who stands up, how are we working?

We were able to really see how our leaders and our staff members will perform under crisis.

And I couldn't have asked for a better battlefield to be with the troops than through this COVID.

I also saw that we had people who cared.

It was wonderful to have conversations through Black Lives Matter.

It was moving to see how people cared about those that, these types of social issues that are in our lives.

It was very interesting to see really what's the mission of Howard University Hospital?

And how is the mission of Howard University playing out in this fair city?

And that's been just wonderful.

I'm still on the mission.

And if you have not heard it, that means you haven't been around me much.

I say it all the time, for Howard University Hospital to be the top performing hospital in Washington, D.C.

So we are working on our service.

I had an outdoor meeting with the EMS coordinator outside of the hospital.

How can I serve you better?

What's gonna make you bring patients here more often?

What can I do differently?

Is the entrance to the ER, is that working for you?

We are working on our quality outcomes.

We are working to make sure that every patient that comes to our hospital is not just treated with respect, is not just treated with kindness, but gets world-class, quality care, the right drugs, the right patients, the right treatment all the time.

That's why I'm here.

And it is a joy to work with the team and with our leaders to make that happen.

Excellent.

Well, thanks for being here.

My guest today- My pleasure.

Was Anita Jenkins, CEO of Howard University Hospital.

I'm Dr. Wayne Frederick.

Please join me next time on "The Journey."

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For more information on this program or any other program, please visit our website at whut.org.

Thank you.