MMA, Healthcare Systems Offer Advice to Families Before Holiday Season

December 1, 2022

On November 21, the MMA and several Minnesota healthcare systems held a press conference in downtown Minneapolis to sound the alarm ahead of the holiday season, to raise awareness about the spike in cases of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and other respiratory illnesses.  

MMA President Will Nicholson, MD, urged Minnesotans to take preventive steps to stay healthy at a press conference on November 21.

MMA President Will Nicholson, MD, joined physicians from Allina Health, Children’s Minnesota, CentraCare, Hennepin Healthcare, M Health Fairview and Park Nicollet. 

“Getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself and your family,” Nicholson told broadcast reporters and print journalists at the press event. He also urged Minnesotans to continue preventive steps that were promoted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic: wash your hands, cover your cough, wear a mask, keep your distance and if you feel sick, stay home. 

Urgent cares, clinics and emergency departments have been flooded with patients in the weeks leading up to the press conference. School districts have reported high rates of absenteeism and patients have seen a shortage of medications such as amoxicillin.  

Nicholson and the other physicians also advised parents on when to bring their children into the ER.  

In addition, the physicians asked that their fellow Minnesotans be kind. Healthcare workers have been battling the pandemic for three years and are tired, Nicholson said.