Dr. David Janz, University Medical Center Director of Medical Critical Care Services, to testify before Congressional Committee Tuesday morning

Dr. David Janz, a pulmonologist and critical care physician who serves as Director of Medical Critical Care Services at University Medical Center will testify before the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Tuesday, July 27, at 9 a.m. CST. The hearing is entitled “The Path Forward: Building on Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

In a letter extending the invitation, Committee leadership stated they are interested in hearing how Dr. Janz has been engaged in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and lessons he and his colleagues have learned that would help the U.S. better prepare for future public health emergencies. This includes experiences in modernizing federal public health and medical preparedness and response systems and processes, ensuring readiness and sufficient public health and medical capacity, addressing stockpiling and supply chain needs during a public health emergency, and addressing the needs of at-risk populations, and promoting health equity in planning and response efforts.

Since 2018, Dr. Janz has served in a leadership role in the Medical Intensive Care Unit, where the most critically ill COVID-19 patients are treated. He has been instrumental in University Medical Center’s COVID-19 response, helping to guide care and explore treatment plans for the hospital’s most critically ill patients.

Dr. Janz is also a member of the Louisiana Department of Health COVID-19 Critical Care Response Task Force, assisting ICUs around the state in the organization and provision of critical care during a pandemic.

“I am honored to add a New Orleans voice to the important discussion regarding lessons learned in a community that was hit hard early on by the pandemic, and what we continue to learn in treating patients, especially as this latest surge takes hold,” said Dr. Janz. “We have already applied valuable lessons in treating patients effectively as well as in caring for the caregivers. And now we have perhaps the most valuable lesson, that is the importance the vaccine plays in caring for ourselves and our community.”

Dr. Janz holds several academic, professional, and research appointments and has been lauded for excellence in teaching and patient care. In 2019, University Medical Center New Orleans recognized him as Best Physician Educator and LSU School of Medicine named him Subspecialty Faculty of the Year. He has published over 60 articles in the field of critical care, chairs an international critical care course for learners, and lectures around the world on the care of critically ill adults.

The hearing can be viewed at the following link, via Livestream: https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/the-path-forward-building-on-lessons-learned-from-the-covid-19-pandemic