Governor Mike DeWine Amy Acton

Governor: State of Ohio Director Ohio Department of Health

614-644-4357 1-833-427-5634

April 10, 2020

An Immediate Call to Action to Governor DeWine and Director Amy Acton

by Representative Nino Vitale

On behalf of the many citizens in my district that are not getting the urgent health care they need; I am asking for an
immediate repeal of the restriction prohibiting doctors and nurses from providing elective surgeries in Ohio.

We are currently hyper-focused on the C19 situation. I have been told by many doctors and nurses that they are shut
down, getting laid off, or unable to properly treat patients who have other critical care needs. We cannot be so focused on
one pandemic that we create 3 to 5 other health care pandemics. All health conditions are important, not just those with
C19. We should also be gravely concerned about the health and welfare of people who have heart problems, lung
problems, colon issues, prostate or bladder surgeries, and other conditions that are not C19 related. There are many
Ohioans that are in desperate need of care, and their situations, which were not critical 3-4 weeks ago, are now critical
according to the doctors and nurses contacting me. These Ohioans deserve care as well.

I also have doctors telling me they have lost 85% of their practices and are either days or a week or so away from closing
their doors permanently. This would cause a huge number of our health care providers to be lost in Ohio forever. We must
protect the health of our health care network.

My request is we allow the doctors and nurses in these fields to immediately open back up and treat Ohioans that need
medical care, which is getting more and more critical by the day because of these restrictions. These people are trained in
infectious disease control and know how to manage and properly care for their patients, so we should trust them to do so.

Cordially,

State Representative Nino Vitale