COVID-19 Vaccine Updates

The highly contagious Delta variant has caused a surge in COVID-19 cases and, along with it, a sharp rise in the demand for COVID-19 testing. To help meet the community’s needs, the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) is now conducting drive-through COVID-19 testing at Wellstar Paulding Urgent Care.

Hours of Operation

The DPH provides COVID-19 testing for people of all ages, and no appointment is necessary. The DPH drive-through site at Wellstar Paulding Urgent Care is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Please note, this testing site is closed for holidays and in cases of inclement weather.

Directions for DPH Testing

Use the parking lot map below to find the right route for DPH testing:

By Dr. Asif Saberi, Medical Director of Critical Care and ECMO at Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center & Associate Professor of Medicine at Medical College of Georgia at Augusta State University

This wave of the pandemic is unique. We have learned a lot about COVID-19 as a disease, and we have more therapeutic options today than we did in the spring and summer of 2020. But the disease continues to humble us with its tenacity and increased deadliness with each new iteration or surge, and now with its onslaught on the young and the healthy, it is hitting us where it hurts the most.

As a system, we continue to struggle with limited human resources. There are not as many healthcare workers as we need and the steadfast warriors who have stayed at their posts through about 18 months of the pandemic are weary and burnout is high.

This is an important rate-limiting step in our ability to provide one specific therapy, viz., ECMO, which, for a significant number of young people in the extreme manifestation of the disease, is possibly the difference between life and death. At my institution, the phones have not stopped ringing and we maintain a long list of patients who need ECMO. The most heart-wrenching task for us is the daily sorting of our list, moving someone down and eventually off the list as their likelihood of benefit from ECMO and ultimately survival recedes with time.

This is a call to my colleagues in ECMO. Physicians, ECMO specialists, perfusionists, ethicists, and thinkers. As a breed, we are constantly thinking about solutions that are not in any book. Can we solve this problem?

The month of September is Gynecological Cancer Awareness Month. The term “gynecological cancer” describes a group of cancers including endometrial (uterine) cancer, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, vaginal cancer and vulvar cancer, among other rare types.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be more important than ever for women to brush up on their health IQ to help stay ahead of gynecological health issues. The more you know could potentially save your life one day.

The pandemic vs. women’s health

Dr. Jeffrey Hines, Chief of the Division of Wellstar Gynecologic Oncology, said the pandemic caused many women to skip important cervical cancer and breast cancer screenings.

The Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI), an independent, non-profit research institute found women’s health services were significantly affected in 2020 compared with 2019:

• HPV vaccines that prevent cervical cancer were down by 75%
• Mammograms and Pap smears that identify breast and cervical cancer in earlier, more treatable stages were down by nearly 80%

Unfortunately, women are already experiencing the consequences.

“There’s an uptick in cancer diagnoses with more advanced disease,” Dr. Hines said. “It’s so important that women realize that it’s safe to go to their providers to get their mammograms and Paps.”