Geisinger CEO Repeats Words of Caution on Reopening
DANVILLE – Dr. Jaewon Ryu, President and CEO of Geisinger, has renewed his call for caution as Pennsylvania looks to a gradual reopening in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The Geisinger chief executive held another Friday virtual news conference and provided an update on the virus status across the health care provider’s service area from Luzerne and Lackawanna counties westward to Clinton and Centre counties and southward to Harrisburg and Lewistown.
He said the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area has seen the “most substantial climb” in cases over the last week. Stating, “We’re not at all out of the woods,” Ryu said models suggest that there will be “waves” of the virus coming westward in future months, “into June, July, even August.” He said these case peaks will follow two, three or four weeks behind those in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.
Ryu said, “This is not the time to ease up” as he said there is a way to open up the state but that it should be done in phases. He urged that now is the time “to be even more careful” and reiterated the continued need for social distancing and other cautionary steps.
He presented numbers on victims in Geisinger’s service area: over 11,000 residents tested with 15 percent testing positive. Of that number, over 300 were hospitalized, a little over 100 still in the hospital and 180 discharged.
Asked about the COVID-19 financial impact, he said Geisinger is looking at a loss of $100 million a month. He said $53 million in assistance has been received from the federal government through recent legislation and expressed the hope that more will be provided.
And he joined other medical experts when he said he anticipated there will likely be both COVID-19 and the flu this winter and said Geisinger will place a strong emphasis on the public getting flu shots later this year.
