{"id":3727,"date":"2020-04-24T11:25:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T15:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/?p=3727"},"modified":"2020-04-27T22:06:39","modified_gmt":"2020-04-28T02:06:39","slug":"health-workers-our-first-line-of-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/2020\/04\/24\/health-workers-our-first-line-of-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Workers: Our First Line of Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/a>

A COVID-19 Screener, Dena Meyers, administers a temperature test to everyone entering the Sleep Center.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
By Brooke Loomis<\/em><\/div>\n

The sun\u2019s glowing rays reflected off the hospital\u2019s tinted windows. In a garden nearby, newly sprouted tulips burst with color, yellow\u00a0and white,\u00a0while across the road\u00a0tree saplings, planted\u00a0in neat rows, seemed to go on forever. It was a new season, a new era. The Earth has not forgotten its habits. Animals emerge from hibernation. Plants resurface from beneath the soil. And all the world\u2019s colors rise up, vibrant and alive.\u00a0Against the backdrop of a pandemic, of chaos, of anxiety and pain, Spring creates a cruel contrast.<\/p>\n

Bonnie Loomis, my mom, walked out of the building in her turtle neck sweater and long navy pants. The pandemic has not allowed her time to change into her warm-weather wardrobe. She\u00a0works for the Penn State Health System’s Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, as the Medical Office Supervisor of the Sleep Research and Treatment Center.<\/p>\n

The hospital is a central part of the town. Named after the esteemed chocolate maker, Milton Hershey, the hospital is a hub of socialization and community. It employs over 1,000 physicians, 2,000 nurses, and 10,000 staff workers.\u00a0 It is distinguished in its reputation and ability.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need to get my sunglasses out of the car before we go on a walk,\u201d Bonnie said. Before we made it out\u00a0of the parking lot, we were approached\u00a0by her coworker, Dena Meyers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just coming in to get a laptop computer,\u201d Dena\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Bonnie Loomis emerges from the Sleep Research and Treatment Center after a day of work.<\/p><\/div>\n

Right now, Dena is arguably one of the most important workers in the hospital. Usually a Sleep Technician, she volunteered to become a COVID-19 Screener, acting as a barrier between the hospital and the rest of the world. Before anyone is permitted to enter, she screens them for symptoms of Coronavirus.\u00a0Dena works a 12-hour shift, from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am, while wearing a mask, a plastic eye shield, and gloves.<\/p>\n

Her tie-dye Crocs and oversized sweatshirt indicated new priorities for her too. Amid a pandemic, the hospital dress code is no\u00a0longer\u00a0a concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe doctors, they\u2019re worse than the patients,\u201d said Dena. \u201cThey come in with a sore throat and a fever thinking they can work. I have to tell them to fill out this paperwork, so I can notify their supervisors they will not be coming in. It makes me worried for my five-year-old son. I wear a mask and gloves, and I change my clothes before I get into my car. But I\u2019m not going to pick him up after work and then give the virus to him. That\u2019s not fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dena left\u00a0for her shift and we continued on our way. We followed the sidewalk leading to the main hospital, past a large sign hastily erected at the entrance. Bright orange letters read\u00a0NO VISITORS ALLOWED.<\/p>\n

\u201cI read a lot of things sent from the hospital, and I feel safe,\u201d my mom\u00a0said as we passed another COVID-19 warning sign. \u201cThen I go to the grocery store and see people wearing masks and I think, \u2018what did I miss?\u2019.\u00a0 My workspace\u00a0is a bubble of safety. But then I’m reminded of the eminent fear every time I walk outside.”<\/p>\n

The Sleep Research Center, like most of the hospital, has transitioned to telehealth. Patients are not permitted to come in for their appointments.<\/p>\n

“I feel safe at work,” my mom continued. “If I didn\u2019t feel safe, I would stay home. We get email updates three or four times a day about COVID-19 screening and the safety precautions of patients and staff.\u00a0If there were patients coming in, I would feel differently. But no patients come\u00a0in now, so\u00a0I do feel safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Appointments by phone have left the campus desolate. A few cars in the parking lot were the only indication of activity within the walls of the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest change in my job is the unpredictability. Most of the department\u2019s employees are still working, either remotely or in a different position so they can get a paycheck. Only one person from our department is not working because of her fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A sign like this one is placed every 15 feet around the hospital perimeter.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Bonnie abruptly stopped walking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIronically the only people who have\u00a0to come in to work and risk their health are the Medical Office Assistants, the lowest paid people in the department. The amount of time it would take to get them all acclimated for working remote and having IT set them up would be almost impossible. And they are coming in with smiles on their faces and no complaints.\u201d\u00a0 She paused and continued, \u201cThis happens a lot. Those at the bottom are left doing the grunt work.”<\/p>\n

I thought of the grocery clerks bagging groceries. The postal workers walking house to house. The pharmacists distributing prescriptions. And then, Dena.<\/p>\n

We stopped across from the main hospital entrance doors. Yellow tulips invited our presence underneath the cloudless sky. Death was close, danger nearby. Inside, brave humans bearing the burdens of an entire world. The least we can do is thank them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brooke Loomis The sun\u2019s glowing rays reflected off the hospital\u2019s tinted windows. In a garden nearby, newly sprouted tulips burst with color, yellow\u00a0and white,\u00a0while across the road\u00a0tree saplings, planted\u00a0in neat rows, seemed to go on forever. It was a new season, a new era. The Earth has not forgotten its habits. Animals emerge from Read more about Health Workers: Our First Line of Defense<\/span>[…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4706,"featured_media":3728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[97665],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hershey-pa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/files\/2020\/04\/Picture-2-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7o53H-Y7","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4706"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}