Executive Director Tejas Sekhar has been selected by Olin Business School at Washington University as a St. Louis Changemaker. Tejas was nominated and subsequently selected by students after they were inspired by his work to provide resources to St. Louisans during the COVID-19 pandemic through EndingCOVID 501(c)(3) and other social impact initiatives such as Compass (compass-sms.com).
“Each year, FOCUS applauds the efforts of the individuals, organizations and/or initiatives making a positive difference in the St. Louis region with our What’s Right With the Region Awards. This event shines a bright light on those who are advancing the equity, prosperity, collaboration, and strength of our communities. Mark your calendars for our 25th Annual What’s Right with the Region Awards Celebration on May 12, 2022! On May 12, 2022, FOCUS St. Louis, the region’s premier leadership organization, will honor 20 individuals, organizations, and initiatives making a difference at the 25th Annual What’s Right with the Region Awards Celebration. These honorees were nominated by the public and selected by a committee of local leaders for their impact and service to the community.”
If one thing is clear, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing inequities across social determinants of health. Cities and urban environments tend to have large gaps in health care accessibility and correspondent health care disparities. Despite the existence of localized public health infrastructure, such infrastructure tends to be fragmented and cannot fully encompass the level of nuance within its patient population as a result. As such, health care inequities are cyclically perpetuated in part through discontinuous health systems. Smarter, patient-centric approaches are needed to move the needle forward and improve at-risk populations’ clinical care and associated outcomes. While technology is often thought of as the proprietor to achieve this goal, low-cost educational interventions and updated guidelines may serve as equally reliable or even better methods to attain this outcome.
In “Open Everything” published in The Atlantic on February 9th, 2022, Yascha Mounk discusses his arguments for lifting any remaining COVID-19 restrictions to “shake off the pandemic malaise.” He asserts that we are “in danger of prolonging the status quo more than is justifiable” and that “the time to end pandemic restrictions is now.” The broad strokes that Mounk makes are diametrically opposed to substantiated public health policy that currently exists as well as the minutiae of circumstances relative to COVID-19 when viewed from an equitable lens. I find his claims to be inattentive to the differences in American public health infrastructure that exist at local, city, and state levels, and come from a place of privilege tied to educational status and economic freedom that not all Americans are necessarily privy to.
As the 2022 rolls around, we complete another year confined within the pandemic. This holiday season, we encourage you to be mindful of those less fortunate and continue to experience hardship due to the novel coronavirus. We encourage you to make a donation to EndingCOVID 501(c)(3), an accredited nonprofit organization that purchases PPE, toiletries, non-perishable food items, and more for our community beneficiaries. You can donate now at the top righthand corner of our website. Please reach out to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any questions, are interested in volunteer with EndingCOVID, or would like to request our EIN for tax write-off purposes. Happy holidays!
EndingCOVID.org is a nonprofit initiative nested within TejHospitality, a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization focused on local asset-based community development in the Greater St. Louis Area.