COVER STORY:
VA Fisher Houses
open doors to healthcare workers in COVID-19 push Story by David Nye Photos by Craig Orsini
In the early days of a global pandemic, many Fisher Houses that serve the Veterans Affairs healthcare systems were closed to guests as a safety precaution. Fifteen of these 44 houses pivoted to support the frontline healthcare professionals that were risking their own well-being to save others. Most Fisher Houses returned to their role of supporting veterans and their families by July. The conversion of these empty houses to support frontline healthcare professionals helped ensure that healthy staff members could make the most of their limited rest time and keep their own families safe. “Fisher House provides me with a safe, comfortable room to rest between night shifts, so I do not have to drive back and forth from New Hampshire,” Bethany McEleney, a physical therapist at the VA Boston Healthcare System who worked 12-hour shifts in the intensive care unit, said at the time. “This place of respite supports the whole ICU team because I arrive rested every day.” For other healthcare professionals, staying at Fisher House was a way to ensure that they could continue working to save veteran lives even if they had vulnerable family members in their own homes. Allison Conlon, a registered nurse in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at VA Boston HCS, has a 2-year-old with special medical needs at home. “I feel so grateful and so fortunate to have a room here. This has been one of the most difficult experiences, but living here at Fisher House and working with such supportive [medical intensive care unit] nurses has made it that much easier.” Fisher Houses are gifted from Fisher House Foundation to the VA. Typically, their use is restricted to supporting military
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THE PATRIOT • VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 2 • 2020
and veteran families while a loved one is undergoing care at a medical facility. When the VA proposed the transition of Fisher Houses to support healthcare professionals, Fisher House Foundation encouraged the exceptions as the healthcare systems rapidly adapted to deal with COVID-19. “Since my great uncle, Zachary, and his wife, Elizabeth, started the first Fisher House, it has always been about supporting those who serve,” said Ken Fisher, chairman and CEO of Fisher House Foundation. “More than 30 years later, that has not changed, but the needs of veterans and service members have temporarily shifted in this crisis. Fisher House Foundation is proud to work with our partners at the VA to serve those healthcare professionals who are serving our veterans every day.” “The transition of Fisher Houses for housing to support our healthcare workers allows VA to execute all aspects of our mission, including VA’s fourth of supporting the national COVID-19 response,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie.
