GHC News

March 2020: GHC Regular Monthly Meeting via ZOOM- COVID-19 Community Impact and Response

March 27, 2020

Friday, March 27, 2020 GHC Regular Monthly Meeting Recap The March 2020 Regular Monthly meeting was the first ever held via teleconferencing due to the global COVID-19 virus pandemic. It was a very successful meeting! Please note, Zoom is the platform by which all GHC committee, forum, and task force meetings will be conducted throughout this period of mandated social distancing – at least through the month of April. Each speaker took approximately 5 minutes to provide an update of their respective areas of expertise and then opened the floor to questions from members. - Maulik Joshi of Meritus Health, explained the strategies of Meritus is 1) access to healthcare and testing, 2) planning for anticipated infection surge, and 3) working closely with county leadership to ensure the community’s safety. - Earl Stoner, County Health Officer, shared that the County worked closely with community partners through the containment phase and continues to do so as it heads into the mitigation phase. He encouraged members to sign up on the County’s website (www.washco-md.net) to receive daily updates from the Joint Information Center. He also spoke to efforts to collect and distribute medical supplies to health institutions. - Andrew Sargent, Md Dept of Commerce, gave a brief overview of financial relief programs available to employers and employees that have been developed by the state’s departments of Commerce and Labor. - Susan Small, County Director of Business shared that she participates in a daily call with local business leaders – GHC participates too - to gather information to share via the County’s daily briefing on the Joint Information Center (JIC). The county continues to work on several large projects intended to bring companies and jobs to our community. - Kirk Downey, County Administrator, confirmed that the county continues to provide all essential services. - Jill Thompson, Director of City Economic Development, also participates in the JIC daily call. She shared that the City has retooled a grant program to help downtown businesses obtain funds and is considering how to repurpose various propertes in the event that there is a spike in infections. - Scott Nicewarner, City Administrator, announced that the Council will resume meeting on April 7th and normal operations are still in process. - B.J. Goetz, Middletown Valley Bank, spoke for the banking industry and ensures that all banks are strong and solvent during this time. Lobby access is limited, but drive-throughs are open and there are many electronic benefits that customers are encouraged to use. Banks are reaching out to their customers, eliminating banking fees, and trying to help the community remain calm. - Patrick Grach, Lifehouse Church, shared that local churches have banded together to collect, distribute or deliver, donations for those in need. Details and Volunteer sign-up are at www.forourcity.com. The churches are partnering with the United Way to try and replace nonprofit volunteers. - Dan Spedden, Visit Hagerstown, conveyed that hotels are running on less than 30 room nights and expect that number to drop to 15 over the next week. The CVB is reaching out to its members to personally direct them to assistance programs. CVB membership fees are deferred in effort to keep their members engaged and aware of assistance available. - Dave Shuster, Horizon Goodwill Industries, shared that he expects many nonprofits to formally ally together and create a public, unified statement to the community as they all experience shortages of funding and volunteers. *GHC Daily COVID-19 Business updates available on the GHC Publications Page