Letter to the Editor: Medical staff asks elected officials to support COVID-19 prevention strategies


The medical staff at Sauk Prairie Healthcare and Prairie Clinic recently asked their federal, state and local elected officials as well as school boards to publicly support the COVID19 prevention strategies of face coverings, physical distancing, frequent hand-washing, and avoiding large gatherings to stem the rising numbers of infections.

Dear County Supervisor: 

We at Sauk Prairie Healthcare and Prairie Clinic need your help to stem the rising numbers of  COVID19 infections. We are asking for your public support of prevention strategies: face  coverings, physical distancing, frequent hand-washing, and avoiding large gatherings.  

As a community leader, you can have a significant impact helping our communities adopt  prevention strategies while keeping our local businesses vibrant. We ask that you speak directly  with your colleagues, friends, businesses, and family about the importance of adopting the  COVID19 prevention strategies. We ask you to share your support in conversations, interviews,  at community meetings, on social media, and anywhere else you think will be helpful. 

This year has been particularly challenging for Sauk County with COVID19 causing significant  illness and death, along with economic hardship.  

We have witnessed an unbelievable response from our communities. Many of our neighbors  have adopted prevention strategies even while suffering an economic toll. Unfortunately, there  have been some gaps in adopting prevention strategies, leading to increasing numbers of  COVID19 infections.  

We want nothing more than to be available to care for our local community members when they  need us. The current increase of COVID19 infections threatens our ability to do this. In an effort  to balance the prevention of a severe infectious disease with the ability to care for our  community members locally, and the desire to support our local businesses, we need everyone  to adopt these basic measures.  

We recognize the economic impact these prevention measures have on our local community  businesses, particularly distancing measures and avoiding large gatherings. But such  gatherings are where the majority of COVID19 transmission occurs. The more widespread our  use of prevention strategies, the more we can reduce transmission, allowing our communities to  thrive.  

We welcome your support and any opportunities to collaborate with you to improve the health  and safety of Sauk County. We are here to serve your health needs and provide answers to  your COVID19 questions. If we can provide you with any information, please feel free to contact  us at info@saukprairiehealthcare.org.  

Sincerely,  

Sauk Prairie Healthcare Medical Staff 

Prairie Clinic Medical Staff  

David Adams, MD  

Maria Andres, PA-C  

Maribeth Baker, MD  

Christine Bathke, MD  

Jessica Bekker, MD  

Diane Bindl, CNM  

Tara Bindl, CRNA  

Trevver Buss, MD  

Andrea Chao, MD  

Denise Cole-Ouzounian, APNP  Jeffrey Collins, MD  

H. Clay Dean, MD  

Cally Dwyer, PA-C  

David Eberdt, PA-C  

Leah Ederer, MD  

Masaru Furukawa, MD  Nathan Grunewald, MD  Matthew Hebert, MD  

Aaron Hoekstra, PA-C  

Suzanne Jacobs, CRNA  

Steven Johnson, MD  

Curtis Johnson, CRNA  

Agnes Kanikula, PA-C  Kari Fisher, DNP  

Bryant Kearney, MD  Lucas Kemp, CRNA  

David Krey, MD  

Wendy Ledesma, MD  Deanna Lord, PA-C  

John McAuliffe, MD  Sarah Niles, MD  

Angela O’Connor, MD  Todd Schad, MD  

E. Barclay Shultz, MD  Angie Sorg, APNP  

Katherine Templeton, MD  Thomas Varley, MD  Kevin Vogt, MD  

Eric Warbasse, MD  

Emily Weiss, FNP  

Suzanne Welsch, MD  Ellen Wermuth, MD  Linda Youngren, MD