A Family's Love — Fisher House Launches New Program to Better Connect Families Face-to-Face Amidst COVID-19

Story by Jenney Premont

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people live, work, and heal, a family’s love is still the best medicine.

For WWII and Army veteran Dr. Patrick McClain, seeing family face-to-face on his 101st birthday was a great surprise.

In June, Patrick fell ill while visiting his daughter in South Carolina and was admitted to the Columbia VA Health Care System in Columbia, South Carolina. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, he was unable to receive visitors for this major milestone. The staff at the VA found a way to let him celebrate his birthday safely thanks to the Fisher House Foundation’s new program, “A Family’s Love.”

At Fisher House, we know a family’s love is the best medicine. It’s true for families like Patrick and all of those who have stayed in Fisher Houses over the years.

For service members and veterans, this change can be difficult to endure alone. This is why Fisher House Foundation created “A Family’s Love,” a new program that has provided 185 Facebook Portal TV stations to more than 88 VA facilities throughout the United States.

Facebook Portal TVs are video-calling devices that use Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp to call or message friends, family, and colleagues. Users can call multiple people at the same time, enabling virtual face-to face conversations with groups. The portal is wired to a smartTV to provide a larger screen for easier viewing.

During a time of great uncertainty, it is important to stay connected to those you love. This new program was created to provide an easy way for virtual connection in hopes of keeping families linked together. The nationwide initiative was inspired by the staff at Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia, when they successfully deployed this new technology for their veteran patients early in the pandemic.

“During this time of crisis, we continue to ensure that our organization plays our part in supporting social distancing and created ‘A Family’s Love’ to safely bring people together,” said Ken Fisher, chairman and CEO of Fisher House Foundation. “Over the years, we have witnessed firsthand the healing impact of a family’s love and support, and through technology, we’re proud to continue helping to foster that by deploying Facebook Portal TV stations.”

The Facebook Portal stations help families talk to their loved ones being treated in hospitals while visitors were not allowed in units during the pandemic. “It was wonderful that a WWII veteran was able to celebrate his 101st birthday with his family virtually through the use of a Facebook portal,” said Shin Yun, social work program coordinator at the Columbia VA Health Care System. “He was so happy to see his children in South Carolina and Washington state on his birthday. The portal was a remarkable way to keep veterans and their loved ones connected since we cannot allow visitors in the hospital due to the pandemic.”

“At the Columbia VA, we are always trying our best to find new ways of keeping our veteran patients in touch with their families and loved ones,” said David Omura, director and chief executive officer of the Columbia VA Health Care System. “When patients are hospitalized, it affects not only the patient, but the entire family. Not being able to physically come and see a family’s veteran can be extremely challenging, especially during this time. To address this, we have embraced the use of virtual video technologies so that we can continue to provide excellent patient and family-centered care.”