9/28/2020 Gmail - CHS questions/concerns

Jacob Jones <whitmancowatch@gmail.com>

CHS questions/concerns
Weiler, Phil <phil.weiler@wsu.edu> Mon, Sep 28, 2020 at 5:14 PM
To: Jacob Jones <whitmancowatch@gmail.com>

Hi Jacob,

Thanks for forwarding the link to your story. I have had a chance to review it and have several points of clarification I’d like to share.

You quoted a Cougar Health Services employee who complained that they could not get tested despite coworkers experiencing illness of
some sort. This comment is puzzling because Cougar Health Services only provides care for students, not employees. Cougar Health
Services is funded by student fees; therefore, faculty and staff cannot receive care there. If an employee is feeling ill, they know to see their
own healthcare provider. They would never go to Cougar Health Services for care. As an employee, a visit to their provider would be covered
by WSU’s medical insurance benefit.

You also quote a Cougar Health Services employee as saying that “providers are left in the dark.” As medical director, Dr. de Vries holds
daily meetings with all staff members, including providers. In addition, she also holds weekly meetings just for providers alone. It’s not clear
to me why this person feels they are unaware of what is happening within the facility.

You note that President Schulz commented that WSU testing plans changed in July. That is true. Throughout the summer, University officials
were working with a team of WSU epidemiologists and infectious disease modelers to develop a plan for random testing of students. These
plans were predicated on the assumption that WSU would return to face-to-face instruction in the fall.

By July, we were seeing significant increases in disease outbreak across the United States. WSU officials came to the conclusion that face-
to-face instruction was not prudent. We made the decision to conduct the fall semester in a virtual environment and instructed students to
remain at their permanent addresses and not return to Pullman. We explained to students that we did not want a potential outbreak among
students to overwhelm the local healthcare network.

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9/28/2020 Gmail - CHS questions/concerns

A random screening program would not work if we didn’t have students in the community and those plans were postponed.

As it turned out, we had more students return to Pullman than expected. In your story, you estimate that 12,000 to 13,000 students came
back. That number has no basis in any quantifiable fact. Those are simply estimates that community members have been using and
repeating. WSU has reached out to landlords asking that they provide an estimate of how many students have returned to their properties
but we have not received a response yet.

You wrote that campus housing opened in mid-August. It is important to note that WSU housing is operating at 15% of capacity. The
outbreak of COVID-19 in Pullman has not been fueled by students living on campus. The vast majority of positive cases are among students
living off campus in private apartments and rental houses.

While we put our full-scale random testing plans on hold, we quickly stood up screening testing when it became clear that the illness was
spreading among students living off campus. Classes started on August 24. A week later, Cougar Health Services began testing of students.
Two days later, WSU brought it mobile healthcare unit from Spokane to supplement testing capacity. Three days later, the Army National
Guard testing team was up and running. As of last night, those three testing centers had conducted 2,369 tests.

The Army National Guard has been an outstanding partner. The team is highly professional and very flexible. It has been a great pleasure to
work with them. That said, the claim made by one of your interviewees that “the National Guard are doing all of our work” is not accurate.
Last week, for instance, the National Guard conducted 258 tests while Cougar Health Services conducted 432 tests.

Finally, with regard to N95 masks, while some sizes have been in short supply nationally, no employee has gone without properly fitted and
appropriate personal protective equipment. In fact, Cougar Health Services staff actually have access to personal respirators that they can
wear if they so choose. These devices provide even higher protection than an N95 mask.

Thanks for the chance to share these comments.

Take care,

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9/28/2020 Gmail - CHS questions/concerns

Phil

Phil Weiler

Vice President for Marketing and Communications

Washington State University

509-335-1221 (desk)

509-595-1708 (mobile)

phil.weiler@wsu.edu

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