STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
The Sun Valley Institute is holding a virtual discussion between leaders from two distinct COVID-19 infection hot spots on Monday, June 29.
Producer and actor Peter Horton, of NBC’s “New Amsterdam” TV drama, will moderate the discussion between Dr. Terry O’Connor, an emergency physician with St. Luke’s Wood River, and Lisa Wing, head nurse of Bellevue Hospital in New York City.
Tuning into the discussion is free. Participants just need to RSVP by registering at https://organizer.runtheworld.today/c/juneresiliencenow.
The discussion will also be recorded and available to watch after Monday on the Sun Valley Institute’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPVf-OSYApUPSj0-tc6ZnXQ and the Sun Valley Institute’s website at www.sunvalleyinstitute.org.
The conversation will view the current crisis through a rural and urban health lens by bringing together two communities that at one point had the highest per capita COVID-19 infection rates in the nation. And it will seek to understand how resilience can held build both back better.
“The word resilience takes on new meaning, significance and urgency in the time of COVID-19,” said Horton, who sits on the board of the Sun Valley Institute. “We were not prepared for this pandemic. Why? What does that mean? What did that look like up close? What have we learned? Are we better fortified now to deal with what comes next?”
O’Connor noted that a recent antibody study determined that 23 percent of Blaine County residents had COVID-19. That’s one of the highest known rates of any small community in the world.
“As a tight-knit community, we responded well to slowing the spread of the disease, and were able to emerge with a very low number of fatalities thanks to those efforts,” said O’Connor. “Going forward, our actions can be scaled to inform global solutions for a successful response to slowing the spread of the disease.”
Monday’s discussion is part of a new series titled “Resilience Now: The Power of We” Summer Series.” It seeks to drive recovery and catalyze innovation. Additional events will be held later in the summer, addressing well-being, the food system and rebalancing the human relationship with nature.
The opening session, sponsored by Christensen Global Strategies, will feature Sun Valley Forum partners and advisers discussing how they have met the challenges of 2020.
Register for the full event, which starts at 1 p.m., at https://organizer.runtheworld.today/c/juneresiliencenow.