When we have a crisis, big or small, we learn how to do
things better. When there is a lost-time accident at work, we look for the root
cause and rework our processes. When we get in a financial bind at home, we
analyze the reasons and implement plans to avoid a repetition. Occasionally,
the crisis forces us to come face to face with the myths we have about our
circumstances.
The coronavirus, COVID-19 is a health crisis unlike any experienced
in our history. We knew it was coming yet we were not prepared. I don’t know if
we could have been prepared for the onslaught of pandemic proportions. Our
systems aren’t designed for this big of an outbreak. Our economy is not
prepared for a total shutdown in a matter of weeks if not days. Our society
doesn’t expect schools to shutter for months on end on a day’s notice. And, yet
it happened.
The crisis is not a time for political posturing, for cable
news to be blaming the outbreak on one politician or another. It is not a time
for inaction. At some point, perhaps months from now and after a shocking number
of deaths, the crisis will pass.
So what shall we do then? Will we go back to life as usual?
Will we do a deep dive into what worked and what didn’t? Will we be willing to
confront some of our basic beliefs about the role of government? What are we
wont to do?
I’m out on a limb here, but I suspect that the government
at all levels, corporations of all sizes, the medical profession, and community leaders
will all have a go at assessing what worked, what didn’t work, and how we
prepare for improved performance when the next crisis hits; not if but when. As
part of the gargantuan navel-gazing, I would like answers to some basic
questions.
When the ripple effect of school closings spread across the
country, it exposed 30 million children in the US who depend on the schools for one
or two meals each day for basic nutrition. The schools closed, but the
cafeterias stayed open to provide grab-and-go bags of food so that our children
would not go hungry. How did we get to this point?
Our nation’s economy was, by many measures, booming. We had
record unemployment; the markets soared to new highs, home loans were at
historic lows. Through all of this, hundreds of thousands of people all over
the country are homeless, living in tents along riverbanks, using the streets
as toilets, going from one charity to another for food. Every year we spend
billions of dollars to help the situation, only to see the problem grow. How
did we get to this point?
The health professionals counsel us who are older to stay
inside, to stay away from younger people, to call the doctor rather than visit
his/her office, and stay away from the ER. Local and State governments are telling
everyone to shelter-in-place, in an effort to control the spread of the virus.
The real fear is that hospitals will be swamped with contaminated people and
overwhelm capacity. Our country spends twice the percentage of GDP per capita
for healthcare compared to other industrialized nations, yet we have fewer hospital
beds than 36 other first-world nations. While this is happening, rural
hospitals cannot afford to stay in business, so they are closing. We don’t have
enough hospital beds and we don’t have enough hospitals. How did we get to this
point?
The government agencies responsible for public health are
overwhelmed with work and understaffed. The CDC, NIH, NHS, etc. are agencies
devoted to science, yet their funding is reduced on a regular basis. The
current administration even eliminated the White House office responsible for
focusing on pandemic prevention. The agencies in which we rely on a health
crisis were short of test kits, short of almost all required medical equipment.
How did we get to this point?
There is a general malaise across the continent when it
comes to the trust level of government and its role in society. There is an
undercurrent of distrust for science. There is a distrust of information coming
from the government or from the media. An Axios/Ipsos survey just released indicates
that only 23% of Republicans are highly concerned about COVID-19, while 51
percent of Democrats are highly concerned. The pandemic’s seriousness, the
health of our citizens, is seen through a political prism. How did we get to
this point?
There is an undercurrent of distrust of government in
general, even when we need it to be at its best. We have always had a high-level
discussion about the role of government. Even those who think that there should
no government at all don’t think we should close the national parks. There is suspicion
of a deep state within the government, often defined as people who support a
party other than that of the sitting president. Yes, we do have a deep state in
our local, state, and federal government, and thank God for them. They are the
experts who make the railroads run, who work among those with poor health,
nurse patients in our hospitals, lead our military, and process Social Security
checks. They are not the enemy. How did we get to this point?
The American myth is that we are the best country in the
world, and I won’t argue the point even though the data indicates that other
countries may be just a smidgen better in some areas. But it’s not uncommon for
the best to have room for improvement. Sometimes getting better requires us to
think outside of the box, to question our assumptions and to question the myths
on which we were raised.
Why don’t we have enough hospital beds? How do we change
the hospital business model?
Why don’t we have enough hospitals in all parts of the
country? Does the government need to nationalize the rural hospitals to guarantee
their existence and survival? Do we need to do away with for-profit hospitals?
Do we need to force non-profit hospitals to take in more non-paying customers
in order to keep their tax status?
Why don’t we have enough emergency medical supplies to accommodate
a pandemic? Why aren’t these supplies stored in regional centers around the
country?
Why do 30 million children need to rely on schools for
their meals each day? Or the libraries in the summer?
Why do we have cable news channels and radio talk shows
trying to spew hate and division through the country?
We are a strong nation, but emergencies like this pandemic
show us the chinks in our armor. How did we get to this point?
