Dr. John Douglas is the Executive Director of the Tri-County Health Department (TCHD) in Colorado, which serves Adams, Arapahoe, and Douglas Counties and is the largest local health department in Colorado.

Prior to joining TCHD, Dr. Douglas served as Director of the Division of STD Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and Chief Medical Officer of the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention at CDC.

John brings us up to date regarding the status of COVID-19 in Colorado.

Emily Baron is the Chief Public Health Officer at COVIDCheck Colorado where she leads their public health strategy. Prior to joining COVIDCheck Colorado, Emily worked for the Pete Peterson Foundation's Center on Healthcare where she led a national strategy focused on identifying and scaling low-cost health solutions for high-need patients.

Emily holds a master's in public health from the CUNY Hunter School of Public Health and began her career at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as a researcher working on clinical trials and patient care.

Emily tells us:

• What COVIDCheck Colorado is and why it was created?
• How important testing is while we wait for the vaccine to become readily available.
• Who should be getting tested and when.
• Why proactive testing is important for older adults.
• How people can take advantage of testing through COVIDCheck Colorado.
• What have we learned about Covid that can help us as we enter this critical time with the vaccine's arrival.

To learn more about COVIDCheck Colorado please go to https://covidcheckcolorado.org/

If you have questions or need services, Jayla urges you to contact the Area Agency on Aging. They will try to answer your questions and help you through your challenges. Please call 303-480-6700 to speak with one of Jayla’s staff.

Thanks for listening to No Copay Radio! You can hear all of our past No Copay Radio broadcasts on www.nocopayradio.com. We also have a Facebook page at No Copay Radio. Please email us at nocopayradio@gmail.com for any questions, comments, or recommendations for future topics.

As always, thank you to our partner, Denver Regional Council of Governments Area Agency on Aging and AARP. You can reach the Area Agency on Aging at (303) 480-6700 or at www.drcog.networkofcare.org. Our past broadcasts are also available on the Network of Care website.