MEET OUR
HOSPITAL
HEROES PHOTOS BY SARATOGAPHOTOGRAPHER.COM
T
here are too many heroes to name at Saratoga Hospital. Everyone on the staff is going beyond the call of duty to fight this pandemic.
Physicians, advanced practice providers, and nurses on the front lines providing direct patient care. Environmental Services, scrubbing everything clean. Engineering, reconfiguring rooms and equipment to provide the safest levels of quarantine. Information Services, finding technological answers to data tracking and connecting isolated patients with their families. These are but a few of the multiple departments tirelessly giving their all. Today, we are recognizing four of Saratoga Hospital’s many front-line and behind-the-scenes heroes who are making sure those on the front lines of COVID-19 have everything they need to provide life-saving medical care and keep patients, staff, and our community safe. Learn more at SaratogaHospital.org.
NICHOLE MELLO, MS, RN COVID-19 Navigator and Manager of Population Health & Engagement, Saratoga Hospital Medical Group I was born and raised here in the Saratoga Springs area. My husband and I enjoy summertime at our camp with our two daughters, who are 5 and 10 years old. I’m a bit of a workout enthusiast. We hike, ride bikes, and walk our dogs. I love my job, which touches on several areas, including chronic care management, quality and safety, public health, and health policy. Since February, I have taken on an additional role, COVID-19 Navigator. I manage the testing tent next to the Emergency Department. It is a complex task with many moving parts, such as making sure the tent is staffed and supplied, collecting data to help track the spread of the virus, and being the hospital’s liaison 30 | SIMPLY SARATOGA | MAY/JUNE 2020
with county public health departments, our urgent and emergent care facilities, first responders, our medical group members, and other local providers. As of April 21, we have conducted 195 inpatient tests and collected another 2,124 specimens through the tent that were sent to Wadsworth, the test lab. On a single day, our tent team handled as many as 115 tests. We contact all patients with their results. I personally reach out to patients who have tested positive. I help them understand their symptoms, go over quarantine requirements, and connect them with a primary care physician if they don’t already have one. I have a great team doing vital work. I am proud to be able to do what I can for our community during this crisis.
saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com
