Another name in the mix for HHR Secretary and more pushback against Wheeler
Hashmi released a statement opposing Wheeler
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I reported this morning that Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin was considering Ballad Health executive Tony Keck for his Health and Human Resources Secretary position, but Friday afternoon I was contacted by more than ten individuals relaying information that the new favorite for HHR Secretary is John Littel. He is listed as the Chief External Affairs Officer and Behavioral Health GM at Magellan Health on his Linkedin page.
Individuals working with separate field-related organizations across the Commonwealth say they were notified on Friday that Littel will be the Secretary of HHR.
REMEMBER: As with everything in politics, the pick is not final until Youngkin announces it himself.
Senate Democrats release Covid-19 protocols ahead of session
Mask and vaccine requirements for Senators and those in the Senate Chamber
Public participation via virtual methods, such as video and email testimony
Individual office protocols to limit unnecessary potential exposure
Majority Leader Dick Saslaw said: “The health and safety of our Senators, staff, and visitors during the upcoming legislative session is top of mind as we convene in Richmond next week. Amidst the unprecedented surges driven by the delta and omicron covid variants, we are working with Senate Republicans and Senate staff to create an environment in which we can complete the important work of the people while staying safe and healthy.”
Caucus Chair Mamie Locke said: “The covid pandemic is spreading more quickly than it ever has–Virginia is reporting record numbers of new cases every day. We do not have the option to pretend it isn’t happening, particularly as people from all over the Commonwealth travel to Richmond. Participation in our government should remain safe and health-conscious; that is why we are encouraging efforts to stop the spread and keep everyone healthy.”
House leaders differed a bit in their approach to Covid-19 mitigation efforts for the session. Read more about that here.
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Sen. Ghazala Hashmi issues statement rejecting Andrew Wheeler’s nomination of Secretary of Natural Resources
If Senate Democrats remain as one and vote against former Trump EPA official Andrew Wheeler’s nomination to the cabinet, then they will prevent the nomination.
Here is the statement from Hashmi, one of many Democrats opposing Wheeler in the state Senate. (I am working on getting a better look at an official count of who opposes Wheeler.)
“To say that this nomination is disappointing is an understatement, and I will not be supporting the appointment of Mr. Wheeler to the position of Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources. Mr. Wheeler’s time in the EPA was marked by his denials of climate change and by efforts to rollback essential progress made at the federal level to address serious environmental concerns.
“Upon Mr. Wheeler’s confirmation as EPA director in February 2019, the New York Times pointed out that he ‘has moved to dramatically weaken two of former President Obama’s signature climate change initiatives, cutting emissions from power plants and from automobiles, while also proposing to make new coal-fired power plants easier to approve. He has also sought to unwind the legal justification for curbing toxic mercury emissions from power plants, limit federal protection of small waterways, and dismissed a panel of independent scientific advisers.’
“Over the past two years, Virginia made significant progress in its efforts to protect our environment, work towards the reduction of carbon emissions, and strengthen the resilience of coastal communities from destructive flooding brought about by climate change. The Commonwealth is making strides in integrating new technologies that support reusable energy sources, and Virginia has benefited tremendously from its membership in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). We have also prioritized the urgency of environmental justice for those communities that have been historically harmed by destructive policies.
“Given that the climate change crisis is already adversely impacting the livelihood and safety of Virginians, I call upon our new Governor to demonstrate meaningful environmental and climate leadership by appointing a Secretary who has a proven record of success in protecting our essential natural resources and in addressing climate change.”
Grim Covid-19 picture in Virginia
According to the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, the Commonwealth is now seeing record case positivity rates, and today eclipsed the previous record for daily hospitalizations. Here are some topline statistics that may help in your reporting. You are also encouraged to consult our COVID-19 Virginia Hospital Data Dashboard, which is updated daily and available online here: Virginia Hospital COVID-19 Dashboard (vhha.com)
VHHA released the following bullet points about the state of the situation:
Today’s statewide COVID-19 hospitalization count of 3,329 is a one-day record since the pandemic began, eclipsing the previous one-day peak of 3,201 hospitalizations on Jan. 13, 2021.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are up nearly 200 percent across Virginia (194 percent) in the past month. And hospitalizations are up across all regions of the Commonwealth, with significant increases recently documented in the Central, Eastern, and Northern regions.
This is now the fifth surge of the pandemic. The previous four were in Spring 2020, Summer 2020, Fall and Winter 2020-2021, and Summer 2021.
You may recall that VHHA last week issued a joint statement with VDH urging Virginians to make appropriate use of hospital emergency departments for true medical crises rather than for mere convenience, mild to moderate COVID symptoms, or simply to obtain a COVID test. We issued this statement because hospitals across Virginia have seen a rise in emergency department visits, including some by patients who aren’t experiencing a medical emergency, which places further strain on the health care delivery system and its staff and resources and can cause a delay in care for those individuals who are experiencing a true medical crisis. Virginia Health Leaders Urge Those with Moderate COVID-19 Symptoms to Avoid Emergency Department Visits (vhha.com)
We also continue to urge unvaccinated Virginians to get vaccinated and boosted as a way to reduce their risk of infection and/or serious illness that leads to hospitalization, both for individual, family, and community health and so as not to further strain hospitals and their team members on the frontlines of the pandemic. Data continues to show that a majority of patients currently hospitalized for COVID-19 are not fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, hospitals across Virginia continue to make operational adjustments related to things like visitation restrictions, scaling back or postponing non-emergency procedures, adjustments to staff deployment, and more to respond to the current and evolving circumstances of the pandemic. While each facility and the situation it is confronting is unique, hospitals and their teams have consistently adapted to meet the challenges presented by the pandemic.
As adaptable as hospitals have been, it is important to remember that the health care delivery system does not have unlimited resources (for instance, staffing challenges which pre-dated the pandemic have been magnified due to various factors including staff who are sidelined while isolated/quarantining due to illness or exposure).
The current situation is serious and if things remain on the current trajectory for an extended period – particularly because we know hospitalizations as a metric tend to slightly lag behind rising case counts, and some of the modeling projections suggest that this current surge may not yet have reached the point where it will crest and begin to recede (some modeling suggests that may occur later this month) – we could face the possibility of straining the limits of the system’s capacity.
John Littel is a Kay Coles James acolyte. He was her Deputy with she was Secretary of Health and Human Resources.