Behind the Mask

8 BEHIND THE MASK.

Folio reached out to health systems to nominate those who have gone above and beyond during the COVID-19 pandemic. While there may never be enough ways to honor all those who have kept us safe and healthy, we extend our thanks to all medical workers.

Christine Smith, Director of Adult Cardiovascular Services, Baptist Heart Hospital “Christine led the health system’s response on personal protective equipment (PPE) conservation and spent many hours obtaining masks and other facial barriers for more than 2,000 Baptist Heart Hospital team members. She also worked on improving other areas of PPE, particularly gowns, and partnered with Baptist Health’s Infection Control team on fi nding innovative ways to extend the use of gowns while maintaining safety and adequate supply.”

Jennifer Malig, Director of Nursing, Baptist Medical Center Beaches “Jennifer worked with an interdisciplinary team to create a 94-bed fi eld hospital at Baptist Medical Center Beaches. She collaborated with a Baptist Health project manager, the supply chain team, the Plant Facilities team, and the nurse executive to ensure a clinically safe environment for providing all the clinical information required to care for this population in less than three weeks.”

Eric Taylor, Medical-Surgical Nurse, Naval Hospital Jacksonville “Lt. j.g. Eric Taylor is deployed with a Navy Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF) in Baton Rouge, La., in support of the Department of Defense’s COVID-19 response. Taylor and a team of Navy hospital corpsmen, nurses and physicians are staffi ng two new 30-bed units for COVID-19 patients at Baton Rouge General Medical Center’s Mid City campus. The Navy EMF is coordinating closely with state, local and public health authorities to ease the strain of the signifi cant patient surge.”

Sara Scott-Moldenhauer, Intensive Care, Memorial Hospital of Jacksonville “Sara has consistently been available and fl exible with scheduling. She is always gracious with her time and is the fi rst one to raise her hand and switch schedules to accommodate her colleagues during these unprecedented times. She constantly goes above and beyond and is naturally calm under pressure in a high-paced ICU environment. She is exceptionally caring and compassionate toward our patients and their families.”

Stefanie Buchanan, Lead Infection Preventionist, UF Health Jacksonville “In March, Stefanie took over as the lead infection preventionist during the COVID-19 crisis, when the director of the department was called to active duty with the Florida Air National Guard. Buchanan’s skills, along with those of her colleagues in infection control, have made a tremendous impact on patient and staff care, guiding leadership on best practice in every area of the hospital during this challenging time.”

Rick Croteau, Nurse Manager, Baptist He “Croteau virtually interviewed nearly 100 prospective job applicants in order to add capacity for Baptist Health’s frontline nursing staff. With assistance from Baptist Health’s Human Resources Department, he established an innovative way to onboard new team members during this emergency health crisis and also assisted in the development of a labor pool so that as many Baptist Health team members as possible could find work while their regular positions were temporarily suspended.”

Matt Sheehan, Nurse Manager, Baptist Medical Center, Nassau “Matt has led the nursing team at Baptist Nassau in establishing an inpatient COVID-19 unit. In order to lift the collective spirits of Baptist Nassau’s caregiving team during this emergency health crisis, Sheehan created a YouTube video, titled “Never Give Up,” showcasing his fellow team members caring for each other as well as thanking the greater Nassau County community for its outpouring of support. One co-worker called it ‘an awesome message of compassion and faith.’”

Jodie Bisogno, Director of Critical Care, Baptist South “Jodie oversees the critical care units at Baptist South, which had the most COVID-19 positive patients and the most COVID-19 patients under investigation in Baptist’s five-hospital health system. She worked with the hospital’s Plant Facilities team to build out more COVID-19 units and negative pressure rooms to reduce exposure. Jodie is always creating special moments to support and edify patients and their families, be it checking on a grieving family or celebrating the successful recovery of a patient.”