I was born and raised in Idaho. It is where I choose to live and work. I enjoy the beautiful weather and breathtaking scenery of my home state, and I trust the people and professionals who live here. I am, and always will be, a proud Idahoan. We are extremely fortunate to live in such an amazing place.
As an Idahoan, I think of myself as independent. But the reality is that I depend on others almost every day. Most of us do this without even thinking about it. Our lives are intertwined in many ways. We rely on others to build the roads we drive on, deliver goods to the stores we shop in, and help us when we need to buy a car or a home. We, ultimately, need each other.
We all offer and seek expertise and support in our daily lives. When a pipe breaks in my home, I look to an expert, a plumber, to assess and fix the issue. I will trust the plumber because this is something I do not know how to do myself. I don’t understand the intricacies of the plumbing system in my home, and I need an expert. I trust the plumber because this person has spent many hours and years perfecting his craft.
That’s just one example. I seek experts almost every day. When I have a problem with my car, I reach out to my son, who is a master certified car technician, for help. When our dogs become ill, we have a trusted veterinarian we visit. When my children headed to college, I trusted (and still trust) the teachers and educators to prepare them for their careers.
And, when I am ill, I trust my doctor to make sure I get the most effective advice and treatment to get me back on my feet.
The pandemic is fluid – things are changing every day, sometimes by the hour. As more peer reviewed scientific studies are being done and more time goes by, we learn more about the virus that causes COVID-19, as well as the disease itself. Our healthcare workers stay current on the latest information to provide all of us the best advice and treatment. The healthcare systems in Idaho have not, and will not, let us down. They are the people who have dedicated their lives and their livelihoods to helping others. They are doing their best with the information they have in the moment. They are successful when you are healthy and living your best life. That is what motivates them.
I trust our healthcare workers and healthcare systems in Idaho. My family and I have needed them in the past and will need them again in the future, I am sure.
What can we do to show our trust and faith in them during this pandemic? We can do what they say to slow the spread of COVID-19. We can show our appreciation by taking preventive measures and getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
This a difficult time. We are all tired of this pandemic, but doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers are probably more exhausted and strained than most. The best way we can get through it is to trust them — and do our part to help end this pandemic.
I trust Idahoans to do the right thing.
DHW Voice 
The answer to this trust dilemma is simply to be trustworthy. Begging us to trust the authorities simply for trust sake, or for the greater good, will not save the day or protect institutional interests. Instead, it would probably be more productive to address the lack of trust within the medical community itself. There are highly credentialed medical professionals all around the country and all over the globe who are pushing back against the mandatory jab and the one-size-fits-all covid treatment protocol in hospitals. Many have lost their jobs over their stance. What do these highly credentialed medical professionals know or what have they experienced, first-hand, that would convince them to give up their livelihoods? Obviously, these highly trained medical professionals have concerns. Addressing their concerns will go a long way toward regaining some semblance of being trustworthy within the medical community and among the rest of us who are curious observers. Authoritarianism is not the path to progress. Encouraging people to question authority and to become more personally responsible for their decisions is the path to progress.
I, too, trust Idahoans to do the right thing and I respect very much those medical professionals who’ve put their jobs on the line by questioning the medical-industrial establishment. History will look very kindly upon them.