Update: Healthcare Working Group

New members were introduced: Karen Riley, Chris Short, Eric Chess, and Gregg Kvistad

Three topics discussed: Centura Health meeting update; document from Gallagher Human Resources and Compensation Consulting, and possible testing protocols.

Centura meeting included Centura COO Edward Sim and Scott Lichtenberger, group president physician alignment, plus Chancellor Haefner, Karlton Creech, Michael LaFarr, and Greg Kvistad. A brief general discussion was held re: a possible partnership between Centura and DU, mainly focused on testing, virtual care provision during COVID, and future options like a campus clinic among others. Centura and DU are very pleased with the Athletics & Recreation partnership. Good discussion, and Centura welcomes further conversation. 

Chancellor Haefner also provided updates about possible partnerships with National Jewish, Kaiser, Palladina Health, and Denver Health. All at the information-gathering stage for now. 

Gallagher representatives provided useful information about the larger higher ed context and COVID. They stressed that they are on retainer for DU’s needs and are happy to provide any and all information and services within their expertise. They raised some issues about testing, including concerns about validity and the financial burden that we and other institutions must grapple with. 

Chancellor Haefner led a discussion about the various testing protocols, both PCR and antigen, which are complex and of varying effectiveness and expense. He noted that Northeastern established its own lab and is running tests for the entire university through the lab. Most of the discussion focused on PCR. Issues include capacity, both testing and processing, timeliness of processing at scale, the pluses and minuses of volume testing, and pool testing (selecting specific populations in a community). It was reported that CSU has apparently chosen to do pool testing. The possibility of DU becoming a Colorado test site was explored, and Stephanie O’Malley will get more information.  

Next steps: Dr. Odell, J.B. Holston, Michael LaFarr, and Dr. Chess will research the pros and cons of various viral testing methodologies and mitigation strategies and report back at the next meeting.