Virginians encouraged to seek needed healthcare in new PSA

Virginians who need medical treatment should contact their healthcare provider to schedule an appointment with the confidence that they can receive care in a safe environment.

To help convey that message, the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association and the Virginia Dental Association have debuted a new public service announcement on television stations across the Commonwealth encouraging Virginians to seek out needed care.

The PSA is airing on network affiliate television stations and cable networks in regions across the state including Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, Roanoke, Charlottesville, Bristol, and the Shenandoah Valley.

In March, Virginia hospitals, dental offices, and many other health care facilities moved to postpone non-emergency medical procedures in an effort to slow community spread of COVID19, and in the case of hospitals, to free up bed space to accommodate the treatment needs of incoming patients.

Gov. Ralph Northam announced that those procedures would be allowed to resume in May. Footage from an April 29 news conference announcing the resumption of scheduled health care procedures is featured in the PSA, which includes remarks from Northam, Dr. Michael P. McDermott, the president and CEO of Mary Washington Healthcare and the chairman of VHHA’s Board of Directors, and VDA President Dr. Elizabeth Reynolds.

The footage in the PSA is used courtesy of Virginia Public Media.

“This spring, many Virginians had to forgo scheduled medical procedures to address important health conditions and needs including cancer and cardiac care and preventive services such as vaccinations for babies and children, mammograms, colonoscopies, or other screenings,” said VHHA President and CEO Sean T. Connaughton. “While many of these procedures have now resumed, clinical data indicates that many patients are delaying care and avoiding care, perhaps due to fears associated with COVID-19. People should know that it is safe to schedule and receive medical treatment in health care facilities. As a health care community, our message to the public is that people should not further delay needed care because doing so could compromise their personal health.”

“Your oral health impacts your overall health, and Virginia dentists are safely resuming patient care,” added VDA Executive Director Ryan Dunn. “We urge Virginians to schedule an appointment to take care of dental issues now and prevent a small problem today from becoming more serious problem tomorrow.”