UAB Briefs: UAB leads effort to test Alabama college students for COVID-19
In this weekly online feature, we keep track of interesting people and events on campus at The University of Alabama at Birmingham.
We also provide updates regarding UAB’s efforts to cope with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
For example, Gov. Ivey’s “Safer at Home” state order remains in effect and restricts visitors in state hospitals. UAB Hospital and UAB Medicine clinics have implemented and must enforce these visitation guidelines.
For information regarding how to plan your in-person UAB Medicine hospital or clinic visit, click here.
To see the current UAB visitor policy and FAQs for patients click here.
To read other UAB COVID-19 updates or find health information, go to uab.edu/coronavirus.
Let us know about people, events and programs on campus that deserve a mention in UAB Briefs. Email jchambers@starnespublishing.com.
COVID-19 TESTING FOR CAMPUSES
On June 29, Governor Ivey announced two programs — Testing for Alabama and Stay Safe Together —that will provide COVID-19 testing and symptom monitoring for public colleges and universities in the state.
A coalition led by UAB and the Alabama Department of Public Health will implement the programs.
The Testing for Alabama initiative — funded by more than $750,000 from the CARES Act — will enable every college student attending a public four-year or two-year college in the state the opportunity to be tested prior to reentry to campus.
In addition to the comprehensive college reentry testing, Testing for Alabama allows for sentinel testing on college campuses and in certain underserved locations in Alabama with identified health care disparities.
This testing of a percentage of a population can help identify trends and potential problem areas in COVID-19 spread and identify how much of the virus is circulating in the population.
The Stay Safe Together Platform will promote safe reentry and ongoing COVID-19 monitoring. It includes a COVID-19 health check that allows individuals to assess their health and symptoms, as well as an exposure notification app backed by Google and Apple technology that can anonymously alert someone if they are at risk from being in proximity to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
The exposure notification smartphone app is in development and is anticipated to be ready in time for the fall semester.
TAPPED TO SERVE
Two UAB officials were appointed recently by Gov. Kay Ivey to serve on the state’s Broadband Working Group, according to UAB Media Relations.
Dr. Eric Wallace, the medical director of UAB eMedicine, and Curt Carver Jr., vice president for Information Technology and chief information officer, will help determine how Alabama should allocate some of the money it received from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.
Alabama received $1.9 billion from the CARES Act to help mitigate the coronavirus pandemic and plans to spend up to $300 million on technology and infrastructure to increase remote instruction and learning.
“There are many who do not have access to broadband,” Wallace said. “This is either because they have the means but no broadband infrastructure or they have broadband infrastructure without the means to pay for the service. If we do not rectify this, disparities in health care, commerce and education can and will rapidly worsen.”
“Network access is the new electricity, and our success as a state is directly tied to empowering the collective intellect and creativity of everyone in the state through ubiquitous connectivity,” Carver said.
The group will be facilitated by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs.
AWARD FROM HAND IN PAW
Birmingham nonprofit Hand in Paw, which provides animal-assisted therapy, has given its Tweety Lasker award for 2020 to the UAB Trauma Burn Intensive Care Unit.
The award recognizes a facility that has worked in collaboration with Hand in Paw to bring therapy visits to their clients or patients.
The TBICU was honored for its exceptional service and dedication to incorporating the visits of Hand in Paw teams into its patient care.
“Our patients and staff love the visits,” said Erin Townsend, assistant nurse manager of TBICU in a UAB news release. “It’s a pretty demanding unit, and the nurses just light up when they see the dogs come.
“It has been such a morale booster for TBICU and we are very grateful and very honored,” Townsend said.
The award was created in 2007 by Hand in Paw donors Jim and Katie Lasker after the death of their beloved greyhound, Tweety. The memorial provides $10,000 each year to Hand in Paw. The facility that wins the award is presented with a Brad Morton bronze statue of Tweety.