by Melissa Hudelson
Greetings from my home office…that I now share with my husband as he currently also works from home. Kansas Chapter staff has always worked out of our homes, so our administrative operations have not been impacted by the pandemic. We are still here for you! Like many other families, we now juggle homeschooling and washing every cup and fork we own daily with work, but KAAP has continued to be a voice for pediatricians and child health in Kansas during this time.
It was great to have so many KAAP members attend the Progress in Pediatrics (PIP) – Spring 2020 webinars that covered a variety of important topics. You can watch recordings of those webinar talks on our website and receive free CME credit through July when you complete the short evaluation.
We understand that most pediatric practices in the state have had a dramatic decrease in visits since mid-March, and the data released from KDHE confirms what we feared, that vaccine orders for the VFC program were down 56% in April 2020 compared to April 2019. That is a difference of more than 21,000 vaccines. KAAP is working on expanding on our social media campaign to get families back to the pediatrician and caught up on well check appointments and vaccines. Look for more information soon about our media campaign and how you can be involved.
The KAAP staff is here for you and I hope you will reach out if there is anything we can do to support your important work. You can reach me at (913) 530-6265 or mel.hudelson@kansasaap.org.
