Recently Governor Asa Hutchinson announced the establishment of the Winter COVID-19 Task Force. On this task force is Washington Regional CEO Larry Shackelford. Shackelford conducted a recent interview with KUAF discussing everything from holiday plans to new COVID task force initiatives

• Info - Shackelford makes a few points from the interview that are worth noting: Hospitals have capacity to take care of incoming patients and regular day-to-day hospital operations. COVID in-patient numbers are approaching 90 individuals. This is a 40-50% increase just over the past 10-14 days.
• The regional hospitals are working together to share capacity and resources - this is something that Shackelford hopes is expanded to the state. Shackelford's most urgent concern is the safety of his staff and providing this staff the right tools for success.
• Deep Dive - more information and the interview can be found HERE