PULLMAN — Pullman Regional Hospital is asking people to take individual responsibility to help prevent the coronavirus from spreading locally.

An update on the infectious disease was one of the topics discussed during the monthly PRH Board of Commissioners meeting Wednesday. The board also discussed the proposed family medicine residency program.

Dr. Gerald Early, chief medical officer, told the board the hospital is preparing for what to do if someone is diagnosed with the virus. He said those preparations are similar to those for other infectious diseases, such as influenza.

They include checking inventory of personal protective gear, checking what rooms are available to isolate patients with the disease and developing a plan with local police, firefighters and paramedics. Early said the most effective way of preventing the coronavirus from spreading, however, is personal responsibility.

“What do you do? The main thing you do is prevention,” he said.

One of the challenges the coronavirus presents is that many of those infected are asymptomatic, which means they do not show symptoms.

He encouraged people to wash their hands often, do not travel to high-risk areas and avoid exposure to those who might be sick. Those who have a cold should stay away from other people.

He said people may have to skip going to work meetings or conferences.

“It may be a time for us to begin to think about social isolation,” Early said.

He also encouraged people to be wary of where they are getting information about the disease. He encouraged them to go to websites for the Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization or credible news sources such as the New York Times. Information can also be found on the Pullman Regional Hospital website.

“One of the things that’s important is to seek sources of credible information, because there is a huge amount of foolish information that’s out there and available and it’s widely shared,” he said.

Early also spoke Wednesday about the hospital’s efforts with Washington State University to create a family medicine residency program in Pullman.

The PRH Foundation is trying to raise $2.7 million to fund the space that will house the program and 12 supervised residents. It hopes to begin the program in 2022.

He said these residents will be salaried WSU employees who are required to see an average of 550 patients per year. Though they are supervised, patients will view them as their doctor, he said.

Early said the goal is to bring more primary care physicians to the Palouse. Physicians are more likely to practice in the city they completed their residency program than any other city.

“The other advantage is that these will be young physicians that we have watched and mentored for three years. So it’s not like you’re pulling them out of the sky from a recruiter. These are people that we will know.”

Early said it will also benefit the current PRH physicians tasked with mentoring the residents. The act of teaching can reinvigorate doctors.

“It makes you a better doctor,” he said. “You read more, you think more, you’re stimulated more.”

Kuipers can be reached at (208) 883-4640, or by email to akuipers@dnews.com.