White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator speaks on the end of the public health emergency

More than 1,000 executive leaders from the nation’s top hospitals and health systems convened at the 2023 AHA Annual Membership Meeting, April 23-25 in Washington, D.C.

Addressing the AHA annual meeting, Ashish Jha, M.D., White House COVID-19 response coordinator, whose term will end May 11 with the COVID-19 public health emergency, reflected on his time in the Administration. Dr. Jha discussed the lessons learned; how to manage the virus in the future as COVID-19 transitions from a pandemic to an endemic; and strategies to help hospitals and health systems fight the next fight — including ensuring access for the uninsured, expanding at-home testing and treatment, and using telehealth in effective ways. Part of the fight, he said, must be against unsound, unscientific and biased information.
 
“It is the obligation of all of us to flood the zone with good information,” he said. “The best way to counter bad information is with good information.” 

For more on the 2023 AHA Annual Meeting, read AHA's coverage.