As the COVID-19 pandemic wears into another month, and another year, continuing to find things in our lives that are good, successful, and uplifting climbs in importance. This is the season of giving, and the season of gratitude. I want to highlight for you some of the things that are happening in the Tribal Health Department, and the Southern Ute Health Center, that help me keep a positive attitude. 

The past week has been very exciting, receiving our first shipment of COVID-19. Phase 1 of the vaccine was administered to our healthcare workers. We look forward to Phase 2 and protecting our community members at risk. 

The dental building has been under construction and is due to be completed in January. Work is being done to improve patient safety and access to dental care through the remainder of this pandemic. Due to the nature of dental procedures and risk for COVID spread during dental work, this department has been very significantly impacted. We look forward to having our dental team back. 

SUHC continues to provide COVID-safe care. We are accommodating patients with expanded options for care including telephone visits, in-clinic well visits, and outside sick visits. Many medical offices in the area are not able to provide care for their patients with COVID, but that has been a priority at SUHC. Please call to make an appointment if you need one. We can make an appointment for you, that meets your needs, with your safety concerns in mind. 

The pharmacy staff has continued its operations on a shortened schedule, with decreased in-house staff. We have pharmacists and technicians working remotely to answer calls and help with desktop work, while the in-house staff works hard to make sure your prescriptions are ready when you need them. We continue to offer 90-day supplies of medications for our elders, with the hope this will help decrease trips outside the home. 

I’m wishing you all a safe, happy, and healthy New Year. I hope to see your unmasked faces in the near future.