With vaccines, a
glimmer of hope
HEALTH In the waning days of 2019, a novel
FORECAST 2021 37
coronavirus sickened several
people at a wet market in Wuhan,
a Chinese city more than 11
million people call home.
A couple months later,
that virus was found in
Cobb County, Georgia.
It has since infected
more than 50,000 Cobb
residents. More than 2,500
have been hospitalized.
Almost 700 have died as of
this writing.
Healthcare providers
had to adapt. Cobb-based
Wellstar Health System set
up emergency care tents in
the shadow of Kennestone
Hospital last spring and
prepared rooms in which
doctors would typically
treat run-of-the-mill
patients for those who
needed intensive care.
Elective surgeries were
canceled, for a time;
revenue plummeted; some
workers were furloughed.
Those who continued
to work made sacrifices
as well, such as Marietta
neurosurgeon Franklin
Lin, who found alternative
living arrangements to
protect family members
from potential exposure to
By Aleks Gilbert
John Houser, Director of Emergency Preparedness for Cobb Douglas
Public Health, receives the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from Jamie Ash in
December 2020. Chart Riggall
Wellstar Cobb Hospital’s Stroke team took home three awards in July
2020 from the American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines for
outstanding care. Special