Webinar: Front Line Leaders in the Fight Against COVID-19

    Tuesday, August 4, 2020 at 12:00 PM until 1:00 PMCentral Daylight Time UTC -05:00


    Presenters:
    Dr. Ben Killey ’99, Emergency Room Doctor
    Janna Morgan ’10, RN, Intensive Care Nurse
    Dr. Paul Pedersen ’73, Chief Medical Officer at OSF

    Moderator: 
    Dr. Vickie Folse ’86, Professor, Director and Caroline F. Rupert Chair of Nursing, 
    ​​Interim Executive Director of Counseling and Health Services


    Doctors, nurses and caregivers have been on the front line of the fight against coronavirus since the outbreak early this year. Learn how the work of these medical professionals has been affected and hear the inspirational stories of ways they are making a positive impact in the midst of an unprecedented level of stress and uncertainty.



    Dr. Benjamin Killey '99 graduated from Illinois Wesleyan in 1999 with a dual degree in piano performance and biology.  He has been practicing emergency medicine since 2003. Dr. Killey attended Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, did his internship at The University of Chicago, and his emergency medicine residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. He began practicing medicine in the state of Washington in 2007.  In May, Dr. Killey volunteered as an ER doctor with COVID Care Force (CCF). CCF was designed to quickly mobilize a group of healthcare professionals to deploy to hotspots and areas of critical healthcare staffing shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After signing up on April 27, Dr. Killey flew to the Navajo Nation in Gallup, New Mexico four days later. The Navajo Nation is the largest Indian reservation in the United States and upon his arrival, it had the third highest coronavirus infection rate in the United States, behind only New York and New Jersey.

    Janna L. Morgan '10, BSN, RN graduated from Illinois Wesleyan in 2010 with a degree in nursing. She has practiced in many different areas of nursing, ranging from long term care to critical care over her 10 years as a Registered Nurse. After the exploration of various nursing fields, Janna’s passion for caring for the critically ill led her back to working in the Intensive Care Unit. Janna has worked at many Level 1 trauma centers and Magnet designated hospital systems throughout the country as a Critical Care Nurse. Janna is currently an independent nurse contractor and travels to hospitals in need of experienced critical care nurses. In May 2020, she accepted a contract at Northwestern Lake Forest hospital where she worked in a COVID-19 intensive care unit with COVID-19 patients. Janna is currently attending United States University to obtain her Master’s degree in Nursing Science toward becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner in 2022. 

    Dr. Paul E. Pedersen '73 practices internal medicine and is Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center, Bloomington. A 1973 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan, Paul attended University of Illinois College of Medicine. Since 1995 he has served on various committees and functions within OSF including local, system wide and Board Committees primarily focused on IT development, Quality & Safety and Ethics. Dr. Pedersen has been a member of the Illinois State Medical Society since 1980.  At the local level, Dr. Pedersen is active in the McClean County Medical Society, where he has served as its president from 1995 through 1996. Since 1992, Dr. Pedersen has served on the board of the Rural Illinois Medical Student Assistance Program and as president. Pedersen has led OSF’s efforts to prepare for spikes in local COVID-19 cases.

    Registration is no longer available because the registration deadline has passed.