Dr. C. L. Gray (photo credit: Dr. Gray)
His distinctive voice can be heard on the airwaves urging Americans to rise above their fears and meet the challenge of the health pandemic with a scientific, data-driven response.
“We must isolate the few to protect the many instead of isolating the many to protect the few,” says Dr. C. L. Gray, founder of Physicians for Reform, a group seeking to protect the patient-physician relationship. He helped start the Flatten the Fear campaign in response to the Covid pandemic in partnership with The Job Creators Network. Dr. Gray is also on the staff of a hospital in western North Carolina.
In seeking to reform the healthcare system, he got involved with Herman Cain and Dr. Ben Carson’s presidential campaigns. He eventually was asked to put together a one-page healthcare plan for President Trump.
After the Covid pandemic hit, he shifted from healthcare policy to dealing with the coronavirus.
“At my own hospital our ER typically treats 180 patients a day,” he notes. “There were times at the peak of the coronavirus that our ER was almost empty. We had to furlough a lot of staff and we all took salary cuts,” he says.
His hospital tripled their ICU beds, expecting a surge based on what was happening in New York, but they never needed the excess capacity.
“There were times we were down to 30 to 40 patients in the hospital because so many people were scared to come in. They were afraid they would get the coronavirus there.”
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Sadly, many suffered heart attacks and strokes but never sought treatment. One man had a bowel obstruction, did not get treated, and died. Another woman with leukemia died without care.
“There were many patients who could have received treatment, but didn’t, simply because they were scared.”
Dr. Gray breaks down the available scientific data based on region, age and underlying medical condition. “Ten percent of the counties account for over 90% of the deaths and 40 percent of the counties had no deaths at all from Covid,” he says, based on research conducted by the Heritage Foundation.
