Bright Minded Live with Miley Cyrus: #HighlightingHeroes - Dr. Oscar L Maitas, Dr. Syra Madad- Ep 16

Today, after a brief hiatus, Miley returned to BRIGHTMINDED: LIVE WITH MILEY for a one week special, “Highlighting Heroes.” All week long, “Bright Minded” will be honoring the incredible heroes in our communities who are working tirelessly and courageously to serve others during this critical time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Miley kicked off “Highlighting Heroes” week joined by Dr. Oscar Maitas, an ICU Doctor at Ochsner Health on COVID-19 Unit in New Orleans. Miley began by sharing her love for the city of New Orleans, explaining how much it upset her to know that such a vibrant city with a strong musical culture is being hit hard by this pandemic. To that point, Dr. Maitas spoke on how devastating it is that this shocking situation has paralyzed the beautiful culture of New Orleans, but that there is comfort in seeing everyone’s desire to come back stronger than ever. He explained that his hospital has essentially transformed into one large COVID-19 unit, adapting to treating critical care patients while also minimizing cross contamination and exposure to doctors and nurses. Dr. Maitas discussed the importance of staying positive at this time, commending his hospital for creating designated spaces for decompression for those on the frontlines – allowing them to destress in order to continue giving their patients the help they need. He also described how being able to discharge patients gives him a great sense of fulfillment and inspiration, knowing that we can get through this. Finally, he highlighted the importance of staying home and social distancing, saying that as a society, we can best help to flatten the curve by abiding by these guidelines. He stressed that this should also be a wakeup call for all of us to make sure we are living the healthiest lifestyle possible in order to decrease our risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.

Next, nationally recognized leader in public health, Dr. Syra Madad, joined Miley to continue the conversation. As NYC Health System’s Senior Director of the system-wide Special Pathogens Program, Dr. Madad has been helping lead New York City’s response to the pandemic. She is a mom of three, who gave birth to her youngest just 12 weeks ago! She described how this is one of the most exhausting times in her life, but also one of her proudest moments as a healthcare worker seeing everyone come together to fight COVID-19. She emphasized the notion that we are all in this together, and we all have a part to play in overcoming this disaster – further underlining that everyone’s first line of defense is to stay home and social distance. Dr. Madad explained that one person who is asymptomatic can infect multiple people, which is why it is so important to abide by these guidelines even if you are not displaying all (or any) of the symptoms. Echoing Dr. Maitas, she also said that she hopes this raises awareness on how crucial it is to take a look in the mirror and improve your own health in order to avoid developing conditions that would make you a high-risk individual. Dr. Madad concluded by saying that we need to invest in preparedness for a future outbreak, as an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of care.

Wrapping up today’s episode, Miley said she is full of hope knowing we are surrounded by such selfless, talented, smart, and dedicated people who are committed to making our lives better. Miley wants to hear from you about who you consider to be a hero in your community during this difficult time. Use the hashtag #HighlightingHeroes on Instagram and Twitter to highlight your local heroes, and Miley will highlight them this week on “Bright Minded”!