HHS Secretary Alex Azar (masked, in blue tie) speaks to officials at the Oneida Nation Community Health Center during his Wednesday visit (Alex Azar/Twitter)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar visited Northeast Wisconsin Wednesday, the day before his boss, President Donald Trump, arrives.
Azar toured Bellin Memorial Hospital and spoke to local leaders regarding the response to COVID-19. He told WTAQ’s ‘The John Muir Show’ that the coronavirus shutdowns caused people to stay away from normal hospital visits.
“You know here in the Green Bay area colonoscopies and mammograms are down 90%, joint replacements are down 90%, primary care visits fell 75%,” Azar said. “We’re not getting the care we need, and that has a real health consequence.”
Health officials across the country have said they’ve seen a drop in elective procedures and even emergency room visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, several area hospital systems, including Bellin and Prevea Health, furloughed employees and altered shifts in part due to fewer patients seeking treatment.
Azar also touted the Trump Administration’s latest legal victory to force healthcare providers to publicly list the negotiated prices for medical procedures.
“We demanded that hospitals provide publicly: what are their prices? What are their list prices? But also, importantly, what are the real prices that you would pay?”
Azar visited the N.E.W. Community Clinic and the Oneida Nation Community Health Center as well.
The administration won that victory in a DC Federal Court on Tuesday. The American Hospital Association had sued the Trump Administration to stop the regulation, which is set to go into force in January.
President Trump will visit the area Thursday.
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