“I think the most serious things for me have been around decision making,” said Chancellor Collins. “What I found was that early in the pandemic you’d make a decision that seemed right on Monday, that you’d be modifying on Wednesday and might be changing totally by Friday.”
Collins highlighted the essential steps UMMS has taken to bring more than 2,000 staff, faculty and students back to campus by instituting consistent policies around masks, social distancing and frequent coronavirus testing.
“The fact that the vast majority of people who tested are negative tells us that people are wearing masks and social distancing,” Collins said. “As a result of all of this, the campus community feels quite safe.”
Protests over racism and inequity during the pandemic has drawn attention to diversity in health care, and reinforced the Medical School’s commitment to addressing disparities and inequities.
“We need to be very present to our students and our colleagues, and we need to work conversantly to make things better.” Collins said.
To listen to the podcast, visit: umassmed.edu/news/voices. To be notified when a new episode of the podcast is available, subscribe on SoundCloud or iTunes.
