From Elizabeth Blackwell to Virginia Apgar to Jennifer Doudna, women have long been at the forefront of medical innovation—breaking through barriers to build hospitals, invent technologies, and lead top medical organizations.

We got the welcome news last week of a third safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19. Then President Biden announced that the federal government expects to have enough supply for every U.S. adult to receive a first dose by the end of May.

One year ago, one of your hospitals admitted the state’s first COVID-19 inpatients. We’re now at about the 35,000th. Back then who could have imagined the challenges our field would face, the devastation and cruelty of this illness, or the pivotal role you would play far beyond patient care?

This month we celebrate the significant contributions of Black Americans to our nation’s past, present, and future. As we reflect on this, we must also face how racial health disparities impact our communities. We see worse outcomes and higher instances of chronic disease in communities of color, from maternal and child health to diabetes and everything in between.

Four in 10 U.S. adults report anxiety or depressive disorder symptoms during COVID-19—roughly four times as many as pre-pandemic.

In his address last Tuesday, Gov. Hogan suggested the state of our state hinges on stemming the pandemic. He said Maryland was put to the test over the past year, but Marylanders rose to the challenge.

COVID has disproportionately affected racial/ethnic groups in Maryland and nationwide, with Black and Hispanic people succumbing to the disease at higher rates.

Last week’s presidential inauguration offered messages of unity and a hopeful path forward. As the transfer of power continues amid a global pandemic, it’s clear COVID is President Biden’s top priority.

Just as it has dominated our professional and personal lives for nearly a year, the COVID pandemic—and its effects—will dominate the Maryland General Assembly’s legislative session, which got underway last week.

The unimaginable images of a mob descending on and vandalizing our U.S. Capitol last week leave a stain on the story of this country. Regardless of one’s political leanings, the invasion of the sanctity of the seat of American democracy was wrong.

As we enter the final week of what has been a thoroughly challenging year for us all, as you continue to see COVID patients stream into your hospitals, we are cautiously hopeful.

It is day 283 of the COVID crisis in Maryland. As on every day before, you and your teams continue to work tirelessly to save lives and keep our communities safe and healthy.

Work is underway on several fronts as your hospitals prepare to receive and distribute the first batches of a long-awaited vaccine for COVID-19. Your organizations and your people will be at the forefront of perhaps the largest and most ambitious vaccination effort in our country’s history.

Thanksgiving this year will look much different for many of us. No traditional dinner with extended family. No visits from in-laws and friends, and tough decisions about how to safely welcome home college-age children.

The warning lights that have flashed yellow for weeks, now show as solid red. Maryland is seeing a dramatic rise in both COVID cases and hospitalizations—prompting the state to tighten public health measures and announce a surge plan for hospitals.

It now seems Joe Biden will be the 46th President of the United States. What will this mean for the hospital field, and for health care in Maryland?

The recent spike in coronavirus cases in Maryland and nationwide puts your hospitals and dedicated caregivers in the spotlight again. Our state’s strong support for hospital workers was on view this week when Gov. Larry Hogan visited Mercy Medical Center to thank them, as a representative of all our hospitals, during National Respiratory Care Week. It’s great to see him acknowledging hospitals’ central role in the ongoing fight against COVID.

We and much of the nation are alarmed to see an uptick of COVID in most states, including Maryland. Your hospitals appear to be managing the volume without the strain felt during our spike in April/May, yet we know a significant surge would threaten that progress and stress your resources further.

With just three months to the start of the 2021 legislative session in Annapolis, we’ll need to adapt to yet another new challenge brought on by the coronavirus: communicating with lawmakers remotely.

The coronavirus pandemic and the economic downturn it has caused disproportionately affects the neediest Marylanders and communities of color. Even as some restrictions on business and social activity are lifting, the economy is slow to bounce back. Just last week the number of first-time unemployment claims in Maryland nearly doubled.