Scot Colson, MD
Interviewee: Scott Colson, MD
Interviewer: Crystal Bauer
Date: December 18, 2020
“I think that vaccines are our only way out ,” says Dr. Scott Colson about COVID. “If we can vaccinate our way to herd immunity, we can save a lot of lives. Eight days from today [December 26, 2020], I’m going to get my first shot. I’m pretty excited. I think that setting an example is going to be helpful to get the message out. Perhaps even some of the naysayers will come on board when they see it is safe.”
For the past 18 and a half years, Dr. Colson has been a family physician at Voyage Healthcare in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. He has served as president of the independent multi-specialty group for 11 years. When COVID hit, everything in its four locations was turned upside down because Minnesota declared a statewide shut-down for six weeks. Telemedicine was introduced to replace in-person contact. PPE and testing supplies became difficult to obtain. Drive-up tents were used outside to test patients. Then in November one of his offices was completely converted to COVID evaluation. Of these impacts, he explains, “I’ve never experienced anything like this…unprecedented.”
To meet these new demands, Voyage Healthcare began using Zoom for regular web calls to educate and update its staff and providers. By using this FaceTime approach, everyone was able to become involved. In addition, a five-person COVID Operations Team was formed. Dr. Colson has been very impressed with the team’s dedication and continual willingness to do research. The pandemic has taught the entire organization to be more flexible and to constantly be catching up on new information and then distributing it.
He usually has plenty of opportunities to share this information during patient visits because everyone wants to talk about COVID and get his expert opinion. He believes family physicians provide a trusted medical home for patients who seek out primary care providers. As a strong advocate for multifaceted family medicine, Dr. Colson recognizes the need it fulfills as…”the quarterback of a healthcare team for patients…to make certain they’re getting the care they need.”