7 minute read
COVID-19 Reflections, Resilience and Recovery
There are more than 170,000 healthcare workers across the state of Oklahoma, and every one of them has been impacted by COVID-19, including those serving residents in Edmond. Mercy, OU Health and INTEGRIS saw hundreds of COVID patients and worked tirelessly to stop the spread of the virus.
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The Edmond Chamber appreciates the service, sacrifice and bravery of every healthcare professional and shares these stories to highlight their courage and perseverance in the midst of a year-long healthcare crisis.
MERCY EDMOND I-35 EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT
During the pandemic, Haley Hunter and Dr. Brent Mefford led the team at the newly launched emergency room at Mercy Edmond I-35. Hunter is the nursing manager, and Dr. Mefford serves as medical director.
“Our roles really changed a lot. We had just opened the Edmond location not long before COVID started rearing its head,” said Dr. Mefford. “We had to change pace as well as try to quickly get acquainted in our new roles at the satellite facility.”
As the healthcare industry continued to learn about the novel COVID-19 virus, CDC recommendations and medical best practices changed on a daily, sometimes twice daily, basis.
“The hardest part was never having faced anything like this before and the unknown of everything,” said Hunter. “We were adjusting to ever-changing guidelines and learning how to support our team while we were scared for our own lives and families.”
Dr. Brent Mefford led the Emergency Department at Mercy Edmond I-35 through the COVID-19 pandemic
Kelsi Laine Photography
COVID brought a whole new type of sickness they had never seen before. These patients required intense respiratory care and ventilators, which meant more staff and more time needed for treatment.
“We’re trained for anything that walks through the door, but when you don’t know what that’s going to entail, it’s hard to get those preparations in place,” said Dr. Mefford. “People were pouring out support and asking what they could do for us to make things smoother, and one of the hard things was having to say ‘I don’t know.’”
Both mentioned the significance of the community’s support. From honking horns and thank you signs to holiday food and personalized cards, the encouragement made a real difference to the healthcare workers.
“The community has shown us a lot of support, and I’m so grateful for that, but be patient with us as we navigate this uncharted territory. It’s been hard and we’re still learning,” said Hunter. “Give us some grace and just be patient with us as we learn the new normal.”
Despite the difficulties and sacrifices made over the last year, the pair are still passionate about providing care and serving our community through healthcare.
“It was tough in a lot of ways. It challenged me personally, challenged us as a team and challenged us as a profession,” said Hunter. “I hope we never have to go through something like this again, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
INTEGRIS HEALTH EDMOND
For the last year, Chief Nursing Officer Angie Kamermayer and ICU Supervisor Jon Oppel have been focused on resiliency and support for their staff.
“I don’t think anything could have prepared our nurses to go through what they went through,” said Kamermayer. “It was almost like being in a war when you didn’t know where the end was going to be. I think that was exceptionally hard on our folks.”
More than 400 COVID patients came through INTEGRIS Health Edmond, and there were days where almost half of the hospital population was being treated for COVID.
“These are some of the sickest patients I’ve ever seen as an ICU nurse, and many of them were staying for weeks,” said Oppel. “You would really get to know the family very well, and there were times that you just wanted to hug somebody but you can’t. The amount of patients we had to see die and the amount of loss for such an extended amount of time was really hard.”
Across the US, the average stay for a COVID patient in ICU was more than ten days, and patients required significantly more care from already overwhelmed hospital staff.
“Nurses became the extension of a patient’s family. The patients were scared or didn’t know how sick they were going to get, and we couldn’t save everybody,” said Kamermayer. “Knowing that somebody’s end was not going to be what we wanted it to be was extremely hard.”
To help healthcare workers through the grieving, INTEGRIS created a Resilience Room with dimmed lights, comfortable seating, aromatherapy and music. The room offered a safe, quiet place to relax and take a break.
Staff also hosted “letting go” sessions where caregivers discussed each life lost and what the patient meant to them.
“We had some patient stories that allowed us to connect to our purpose. We shared about things that inspired us, and we were eventually able to reunite families,” said Kamermayer. “It also kept us going knowing that the community had wrapped their arms around us and was in full support of everything we needed.”
No one ever expected the pandemic to last more than a year, but we continue to see the impacts it has had on the community as a whole.
“This pandemic has made me realize just how much we can do. One of the great things about Angie is that she always said ‘We can’t say we can’t do this. We have to figure out a way,’” said Oppel. “It definitely showed me that even when you think you can’t do something, it’s amazing to see what you can do and what you can overcome when you’re in that situation.”
Both Kamermayer and Oppel encouraged Edmond residents to continue being vigilant and taking proper precautions.
OU HEALTH EDMOND
At the start of the pandemic, Dr. Jeremy Moad had recently joined OU Health Edmond as a Pulmonary Intensivist. In more than ten years of pulmonary medicine, he had never seen patients this sick.
With the short supply and growing demand for healthcare workers, Governor Kevin Stitt issued an emergency declaration allowing students enrolled in nursing education programs to be employed by hospitals and clinics.
“Any time you have patients like these, they require one-on-one nursing, or they require so many additional resources that you need more staff to help out,” said Dr. Moad. “The OU Health administration really rallied around us and provided us with what we needed to make sure we gave our patients the best outcome.”
One of the common frustrations from healthcare professionals was the lack of clarity on guidelines and misinformation about the illness.
“Every day we ran into our own patients that didn’t believe in masking or thought that the pandemic wasn’t real. Trying to convince them it was serious was hard and heartbreaking,” said Dr. Moad. “It definitely took its toll when we’re trying to take care of these patients, many of whom did not make it out, and people don’t want to believe you.”
Some days were harder than others, but caregivers found hope through the success stories and family reunions.
“You really had to hold on to the ones that made it out and hope that energy carried over into taking care of the other ones,” said Dr. Moad. “Every day was potentially another devastating day.”
While residents are getting back to work and businesses are reopening, doctors are cautioning people to continue taking care of themselves and focusing on their health.
“I think we just have to respect each other and realize the sooner we work together, the faster this will go away,” said Dr. Moad. “We’re doing the best we can. I don’t consider us the front line. We’re the last line of defense. The front line is everybody out in the community, those getting vaccinated and wearing masks.”
For more information about getting a vaccine, visit vaccinate.oklahoma.gov.
