El Paso County Medical Society supports judge’s lockdown order, calls on city to enforce it
El PASO, Texas -- The top professional organization for doctors in El Paso has written an open letter supporting the two-week stay at home order issued by County Judge Ricardo Samaniego in the hopes of tamping down a spike in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
The El Paso County Medical Society on Monday become the second large doctors group to voice its support for the judge's lockdown measure and ask that the City of El Paso enforce the county mandate.
The EPCMS currently has a membership of approximately 800 physicians and medical students. The professional group dates back to 1898 in the community.
In its' letter, the physicians "acknowledged that a stay-at-home order may cause some economic hardship for many businesses and families, including some of our own."
But the letter went on to say, "Despite this, we honestly believe that if, as a city, we do not take this time to slow the curve again, we will have both economic loss and loss of life from which our community will have difficulty recovering."
Th EPCMS joined the the El Paso Pediatric Society which, in an open letter on Sunday, also sought to rebut Mayor Dee Margo's expressed concerns about the damage to the local economy that would be inflicted by enforcing the judge's order to close all non-essential businesses.
The Medical Society said if hospitalizations continued surging at their current pace, "we will not be able to care for those that need medical services."
The group said it concluded, "It is necessary to hit the “pause” button and allow for case numbers to drop, hospitals and staff to regroup and city officials to decide what the next correct course of action should be. With a stay-at-home order, there are also fewer people on the streets and in stores, creating more favorable conditions for our hospitals (so as not to worry about accident victims needing ICU beds already being used by Covid-19 patients)."
In a response to the pediatricians' group after its letter on Sunday, Margo said he wanted "to reassure the healthcare community, and all El Pasoans, that I remain committed to working with our Public Health Authority to implement Covid-19 protocols which are allowable by the Governor’s order.”
Margo has claimed the county judge's directive isn't valid because it lacks the support of the governor. That view has also prompted a lawsuit seeking to overturn the judge's directive, with a court hearing set for Wednesday.
The entire EPCMS letter, obtained by ABC-7, can be viewed below.
