Ep 23 – Bonus Episode: A Prayer and a Plea for our Nation to Realize the Severity of COVID-19, with Dr. Brent Staton

Our nation has lost more than 300,000 people from COVID-19.  It is the latest sign of a generational tragedy – one still unfolding in every corner of the country.  As we head into the Christmas holiday, refusal to acknowledge the severity of the pandemic by acting irresponsibly will result in countless more deaths from the virus.

Our nation is at stake, and this week’s Race to Value guest, Dr. Brent Staton wants to share a personal message of love and hope for a brighter tomorrow.  His featured podcast episode (recorded with Dr. Ty Webb) on how the Cumberland Center for Healthcare Innovation is “Building Economic Strength in Rural Communities” was released earlier this week.  After recording that episode, he contracted COVID-19.  We invited him back for a Bonus episode to share a message of God’s love in serving others by taking the pandemic seriously during this upcoming holiday season.  Dr. Staton recorded this episode while hooked up to oxygen battling this terrible disease.

This pandemic is real.  If Dr. Staton’s message saves just one life, his service to his community, and the world as a whole, will have been realized.

Episode Bookmarks:

0:00   Update on the COVID crisis and Dr. Staton’s personal battle with the illness

1:30 “As an American nation, we need to re-focus on unity and protecting one another”

2:30 Complications with COVID-19, Influenza B, and underlying asthma

2:50 Due to a flu vaccine shortage, Dr. Staton gave his own personal dose to a patient (and then ended up contracting the flu)

3:10 How Dr. Staton contracted COVID-19 from a patient during a 15-second interaction

4:30 Serving Others:  Practicing medicine with a servant’s heart and Dr. Staton’s plea for his community to wear a mask as the ultimate gesture of servanthood and love for others

4:45 Health Inequities:  Dr. Staton has access to care during COVID that all Americans should have.

6:20 Dr. Staton is in his late 40’s and was in excellent health prior to his COVID infection.

7:30 Post-COVID complications after recovery

7:50 Misinformation on COVID from the media and the Internet.  “We can’t continue down a pathway of mistrust.”

9:15 Dr. Staton provides perspective on the unnecessary deaths he has seen due to COVID

9:50 Pandemic deniers, and the culture of fear and misunderstanding in our nation

11:00 The worst case scenario if people don’t begin taking the pandemic serious during the Christmas holidays

12:00 Appropriate mask wearing protocol

13:00 What a COVID infection really feels like (“a torture chamber”)

14:10 The truth about mask wearing and vaccine efficacy

15:10 “The disrespect for other human life” by those who refuse to wear masks

15:30 Trusting Dr. Fauci and public health officials, an update on the vaccine research, and misunderstanding of herd immunity

17:10 Using the God-given gift of a human brain and loving others as we get through the pandemic

18:20 Spiritual reflection on death and how we can preserve life by re-focusing on a pandemic plan, mask wearing, and social distancing

19:50 The end of the pandemic will take another year to reach and what Dr. Staton is seeing in the data from other countries

21:50 Treatment with monoclonal antibodies

23:20 The ultimate goal of CCHI is to serve patients in our community

24:00 World War II as a lesson for the unity needed in our nation to defeat COVID-19

27:10 Getting back to the basics (“wash your hands, social distance, love your neighbor, wear your mask, and take care of yourself appropriately”)