DHINCast

DHINCast COVID-19 Special Part 2 with Dr. Rick Hong, Delaware Division of Public Health

June 16, 2020 DHIN
DHINCast
DHINCast COVID-19 Special Part 2 with Dr. Rick Hong, Delaware Division of Public Health
Show Notes

In this special important episode of the DHINCast, we are again joined by Dr. Rick Hong from the State of Delaware Division of Public Health for a follow up meeting from our March 25th podcast to discuss the current COVID-19 crisis that is affecting our community.  Here Dr. Hong tells us how to protect yourself and your family from the dangers of the COVID-19 virus and how we can work together to help halt its spread as well as what to expect during the Phase transitions for opening our community.  Also Dr. Hong helps to explain Contact Tracing as well as where we stand on the status of a COVID vaccine for the public.

Rick Hong, MD
State Medical Director

Dr. Rick Hong has been part of Delaware’s Division of Public Health (DPH) team since 2005 as the Office of Preparedness Medical Director. In this role, he has provided medical expertise to fulfill the mission of statewide healthcare preparedness in the setting of mass-casualty incidents, including chemical, biological, radiation, nuclear, traumatic, and natural hazards; served as the Medical Director of the Delaware Medical Reserve Corp; acted as the Medical Liaison Officer in the Incident Command of the State Health Operations Center, and has chaired the Delaware Ethics Advisory Group.

Dr. Hong also has been an attending emergency medicine physician at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, NJ, since 2007, establishing the Division of EMS/Disaster Medicine to focus on the expansion of its role regionally and state-wide. He has served in a variety of key leadership functions in Emergency Department/Health System/EMS and local/regional emergency management and was the Director of Special Projects and Operations within the Center of Urgent and Emergent Services (CUES), as well as the first Program Director of the ACGME-accredited EMS Fellowship and an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University.

In November 2018, he was appointed as the State Medical Director of DPH, bringing his expertise in healthcare logistics and operations, EMS and emergency preparedness, and public health to expand his responsibilities of protecting the public and the healthcare infrastructure from critical threats.

Dr. Hong is Board Certified in Emergency Medicine and in Emergency Medical Services, completing his Emergency Medicine Residency at Cooper University Hospital and graduating from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science in Economics in Health Care Management and Policy from the Wharton School.