Dear Virginia ACC Colleagues,

As we continue to navigate the Pandemic COVID -19 crisis, the numbers of cardiac patients not presenting to our ERs is highly concerning to all of us. Patients are ignoring and/or downplaying their symptoms, or are just afraid of coming in for evaluation. Because of this avoidance of care, we could potentially experience a crisis within the crisis in cardiovascular care in the upcoming months. A good review and more in depth look at the issues involved can be seen in this article in the May issue of JACC. 

Because this crisis is not likely to resolve soon, making sure that our patients know that it is safe for them to seek medical care will be a critical component of mitigating this lag or interruption in care. There are some robust resources for practices to use at ACC’s CardioSmart. Check them out, including an infographic you can tweet, print out, and email.

Also, a note of congratulations to our newly elected Council leadership! 

Officer:
Todd Villines, MD – Charlottesville

Councillors:
Annette Ansong, MD – Fairfax
Andrew Choi, MD – Fairfax
Benjamin Galper, MD, MPH -– McLean
Shaival Kapadia, MD – Midlothian
Gary Miller, MD – Danville
Mark Newton, MD – Midlothian
Rahul Sharma, MD – Roanoke
Shashank Sinha, MD – Falls Church

Michael Kontos, MD, FACC