A message from Dr. Richard Friend, dean of the College of Community Health Sciences

The COVID-19 crisis has required all of us to adapt to changes in our day-to-day lives. There have been tremendous changes in workplaces and in our homes. We find ourselves glued to the news, uncertain about the future and our financial stability. We are concerned about loved ones, coping with isolation and unable to move about freely in ways in which we were accustomed.

It hasn’t been easy.

At University Medical Center, our focus has been on caring for our patients and the community. Getting through these times means remaining open, seeing existing patients and accepting new patients – and making available daytime and evening telemedicine appointments for patient safety and convenience. We’re offering mental health services, at no cost, for first responders and health-care professionals. And we are providing, twice weekly, COVID-19 screening and testing in Livingston, Alabama, bringing access to a region of the state where screening and testing is scarce.

Our mission, as always, is to be here for our patients and the community, to meet your health-care needs and to do so in a way that is as easy and convenient for you as possible, especially as you are having to deal with myriad challenges caused by COVID-19.

Local restaurants and organizations are doing the same for UMC, making long workdays a little easier for our employees. And for that, we are immensely appreciative.

In recent weeks, our health-care workers have received lunches from local restaurants, as well as DCH Foundation. Area organizations have delivered thank-you cards and goodie bags. These gestures during such a stressful time make all the difference. They show our employees that they are appreciated, and they raise morale as these employees continue to show up to the front lines of this unprecedented pandemic, day after day.

It is an amazing and compassionate response. As we care for our patients, you are caring for us. We are looking out for each other.

Thank you so much for your support.