Hello NDU! Here’s hoping that you are having a great week doing the vital work that North Dakotans expect and deserve!
Here are a couple of matters of interest that I am tracking this week:
- Every ND United local and chapter is engaged in growing our membership. As I mentioned last week, the number one reason that people do not join our organization is that they are not asked. Please share your reasons for membership with your colleagues and ask them to join you in North Dakota’s largest professional organization! If you have any questions, please let us know. We can help! As always, I am very grateful for your membership and for your amazing work.
- As I write this at 5:30am on Tuesday, September 1, I am reflecting on three stories in the papers today. The first bears the news that on the last day of August, there were 520 new cases if COVID-19, which is a number not seen since the height of the pandemic. The second is a story in which Sanford Bismarck CEO and President Dr. Michael LeBeau stated that Bismarck’s two hospitals are treating “50 mostly unvaccinated COVID-19 patients and have no open intensive care beds between them.” LeBeau went on to inform readers that his hospital is “completely out of space” to care for patients and is hampered by a lack of staff. The third is a story in which local health officials in Cass and Clay Counties are encouraging people to get vaccinated against the Coronavirus as the Delta Variant is causing increased hospitalization rates. Each of these articles makes clear that if we take simple steps and precautions right now -including vaccinating the unvaccinated- we can stop the spread of this dangerous virus, keep our schools, campuses, and businesses open, and most importantly, save lives.
Thank you all again for your membership in ND United. Please stay safe and have a great Labor Day weekend!
Nick Archuleta, North Dakota United President