Hospital heroes include more than doctors and nurses

When reporting on the coronavirus pandemic, would the media please stop referring to just “doctors and nurses,” as if they are the only healthcare workers treating patients?

A hospital’s registration personnel get these patients admitted. The transport department moves patients through the hospital as needed. The hospital laboratory get samples tested, which then are collected by personnel from the respiratory department, as well as by nurses. The radiology department takes all the necessary imaging. The cafeteria personnel keep us and visitors fed. The housekeeping department makes sure the hospital remains as clean as possible. Personnel from the lab go from patient to patient and from room to room collecting respiratory swabs and blood and urine samples.

We are all healthcare employees. We are all working together on the front lines for each and every patient.

A Chicago hospital laboratory tech

Thanks, Gov. Pritzker

Since the onset of the coronavirus crisis, Illinois has been a leader in taking steps to keep us safe. Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration has worked overtime to support the heroic efforts of doctors, nurses, other hospital staffers and first-responders. The governor’s office has demonstrated a clear grasp of the facts and given us the tools to make good public health decisions. His office has provided us with up-to-date and honest assessments of the crisis. Without a doubt, all of this has led to lives being saved.

Brian J. McPartlin, Palatine

Hear the ‘call to care’

The best way to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic is to come together as a nation and rally around a call to care.

The Catholic Health Association of the United States joins with health care systems, nonprofits, the private sector and government agencies in a collective effort to overcome the pandemic. Together we must ensure that testing is available to all who need it; remove barriers to health care for everyone; mandate ethical allocation of resources and delivery of care; and provide essential funding for hospitals and health care workers.

This call to care is one that Catholic health care understands. Our tradition draws from women religious who overcame tremendous obstacles to care for the sick in this country. They tenaciously embraced the value of every human life, which is now reflected in the heroic care given by doctors, nurses, support staff and all those keeping society running. If we remain faithful to that call to care, we will survive this pandemic and emerge stronger, as we have before.

Our heartfelt appreciation and prayers go to all those serving selflessly during the COVID-19 pandemic. They remind us that the call to care is a legacy we are blessed to carry forward.

Sr. Mary Haddad, RSM
President & CEO
Catholic Health Association
Washington, D.C.