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In the last six weeks, our community hospital has gone from 10 percent of the hospital being COVID-19 patients to 50 percent COVID-19 patients. Essentially, all the hospitalized patients sick with COVID-19 have been un-vaccinated. We have had nearly as many deaths at Troy Regional in the last 2 months than we have had during the rest of the pandemic, and we thought December and January were bad remember?

I, like many others, don’t agree with all the social media and non-scientific propaganda and politics that has infected us. I am generally appalled at the pandemic response and how we have allowed a common enemy to divide us. Break through cases do occur even after vaccination, but as I have said before, the symptoms are far less severe and rarely are those affected even hospitalized. At the end of the day, these vaccines and monoclonal antibody infusions work. They stop people from being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19. It is time to stop denying science. Our denial of science is killing people.

As football season begins, we are eating hot-dogs and other ultra-processed foods filled with harmful chemicals … we carry cell phones that can track our every move and purchasing habit… we put ourselves at risk every day by employing the bad habits that we all deem acceptable…but the vaccine that keep people from dying from COVID-19 is what scares us? Really? Give me a break!

I and the team at Troy Regional have been on the front lines every day since this pandemic began. I am not kidding you; this is real. We are all working non-stop every day to keep people alive all while dealing with politics and junk from social media that is polluting our communities. From the clinics to the nursing homes, to the ICU, I appreciate the work done at every level of care.

All of us in healthcare are tired. Help us out! Get vaccinated. Troy Regional Medical Center continues to offer free Covid-19 vaccine clinics every Friday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Be smart and do your part.

Spread the word, not the virus.

Rick Smith is Chief Executive Officer of Troy Regional Medical Center.