Dear RVU Community,

Welcome back to school!  We are excited to start another great year and look forward to getting to know all of our new students and to reuniting with all of our students who are returning to campus.

At Rocky Vista University, the safety and well-being of our students and employees are our top priority.  The Medical Response Team (MRT) was created to address the safety, well-being, and health of our community in response to public health concerns.  The MRT is made up of university leaders and students who meet regularly to develop policies and, if necessary, procedures to address public health concerns of significance to the RVU community. All decisions are informed by the team's guiding principles, state, local, and federal healthcare guidelines, and public health data.

For the upcoming academic year, the MRT is establishing the following guidelines for infectious illnesses.

• All employees & students should stay home if they are sick.  Those who present with fever as a major symptom should stay home at least 24 hours after their fever (temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or 37.8 degrees Celsius or higher) is gone, without the use of fever reducing medicine. Employees should notify their immediate supervisor and work carefully to determine further steps.  Students should notify their appropriate program director or clinical coordinator and follow their guidance.  Clinical year students on rotation should also contact their preceptor or the preceptor’s designee.

• If you test positive for COVID or Influenza, CDC recommends isolation for at least five days for COVID or Influenza.  Day 0 of isolation is the day of symptom onset, regardless of when you tested positive.  After this isolation period, and you are fever free for 24 hours, without the use of fever reducing medicine, you may return to campus and wear a well-fitting mask until day 10.

• Those in clinical rotations should follow the guidance of their preceptor or site administrator to comply with individual hospital/clinic recommendations.

It is not necessary to contact the MRT if you are sick or test positive for COVID or Influenza but if you have questions, you may contact Dr. Mark Lee at mlee@rvu.edu or Kristine Jenkins at kjenkins@rvu.edu.

We wish you all a happy, healthy, and productive year!

The RVU Medical Response Team  

Chairs
Mark Lee, MD Co-Chair – Assistant Dean of Clinical Education and Graduate Medical Education
Kristine Jenkins, MPA Co-Chair – Director of Campus Operations

Medical Officers
Andrew Ambler, DO – Associate Professor, OPP, MRT Medical Officer
Dan Chappell, DO – Assistant Dean of Clinical Education Resources, MRT Medical Officer
Steve Harmon, DO – Clinical Director, MRT Medical Officer
Mark Wardle, DO – Vice Chair, Primary Care Department, MRT Medical Officer

Members

David McCoy, PhD – Assistant Dean, Student Affairs and Advising
Coleen Orth – Coordinator for Department of Preclinical Education
Kelly Schroeder – Manager, Campus Safety and Security
Kristin Shute - Manager, Human Resources

Student Representatives
Tamara Evanoff – SGA Representative Colorado
Victoria Chung – SGA Representative Utah
Montana SGA Representative – TBD