COVID In Colorado: Eastern Plains Doctor Drives Himself To Faraway Hospital After Contracting The Virus

(CBS) - Front-line workers will be some of the first people in Colorado to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and among them may be Dr. Kurt Papenfus. Papenfus is the Chief of Staff at Keefe Memorial Hospital located in Cheyenne Wells on Colorado's Eastern Plains.

When he caught the virus in late October, his hospital had to scramble to replace him. He's the only full-time doctor treating about 900 people in the area.

He drove himself five hours to a hospital elsewhere so as not to get anyone else sick.

"I'm the clinic doc, I'm the E.R. doc, and I'm the hospitalist when I'm on call, you know, I do everything," he said.

The doctor says he feels a lot of brain fog right now, almost like he's drunk.

He's also learning about some of the long term consequences of being infected with the virus. "Long haulers effect" as they call them.

State of Colorado health officials wants him to get a mental cognition check to make sure he's clear enough in his thinking to return to the hospital.