Director’s Corner
by Stacy E. Croteau, MD, MMS
We have faced, and continue to face, many challenges and uncertainties during this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, it has been remarkable to see and hear how many of you, your families, and our HTC team members have embraced this opportunity to support others, develop new skills, and help to define a positive “new normal.” Milestone life events — birthdays, graduations, weddings and others may not have been marked by the anticipated festivities but the innovative celebrations were extraordinary. Please know that we were cheering for you even at a distance. The past several months have reinforced my pride and gratitude for being part of this bleeding disorders community.
Among the most substantial changes to our daily lives of late has been the conversion to virtual encounters — school, work, play dates, social gatherings, and even medical visits and educational symposiums. It has been a steep learning curve for us all; expansion of these virtual platforms has been critical to ensuring connectedness and execution of necessary life tasks. Several of our articles in this newsletter addition are focused on adoption of the virtual environment — the benefits and the difficulties. I hope you will enjoy.
There are too many recent, important topics for me to adequately address in my short section here or for us to address within our newsletter. Research into COVID-19, its unique impacts on child and adult health, and vaccine development is ongoing. Clinical research and trials for novel bleeding disorder therapies are also underway. We, along with our parent institutions, continue to strive for improvement, including better recognition of, and intervention with regard to, racial inequalities and health care disparities. Through efforts, including our patient advisory council, we hope to embark on a process of continual improvement incorporating not only our ideas, but also your opinions and priorities to ensure our program continues to thrive and grow in a safe, inviting, and state-of-the-art way.
Stay strong. Stay safe.
