By: Justin Gatorwolf
A large hospital system in Utah lent a helping hand to New York
In early April, staff at Intermountain Healthcare in Utah were told that the 24-hospital system would be sending a delegation to New York to treat Covid-19 patients, Crain’s reported.
Intermountain ended up sending 100 employees—nurses, doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and respiratory therapists—to work at Northwell Health and New York–Presbyterian hospitals
Here are some accounts of Utah health care workers who came to NY to help a city in need during a crisis
Reflections on the deployment to the New York Presbyterian hospital system from Brad Whitcomb, RN, from Utah Valley Hospital
Almost two weeks ago I came out to NYC to help and be of service to both the people in the New York that were ill and my fellow healthcare providers. With almost 99 other coworkers from Intermountain Healthcare, we came out here not knowing which hospital or department we would be working in. There were many unknowns for us, but what we did know is that we all felt this urge, this pull to come. We knew that if we were able to go, we should. I found out about this opportunity to travel to NYC exactly one week before I left.
Then I saw a nurse come out of a patient’s room. She washed her hands, grabbed some meds from the med cabinet, then sat down and put her head in her hands at her desk. She took a quick breather, got back up and started to get back into her full PPE to go back into the room to give the medications to the patient. I thought, “This is why I’m here; this is why they sent RNs.” We’re here to care for, to learn from, but also to give relief to those that provide care. I have seen patients die and patients get better. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve seen some amazing leadership. I’ve met some of the strongest and most awesome caregivers. While in the face of all that is happening around them, they can still laugh, they can still find happy moments, they can still find the best during the worst. They are extraordinary people! Their teamwork is above and beyond, they anticipate each other’s needs. I have now seen angels at work. I am humbled. These are the true heroes!!
Libbey Steed, an RN at Dixie Regional Medical Center, about her thoughts and feelings surrounding her experience in New York as part of Intermountain’s COVID-19 Response Team:
On 4/26/2017, I was in an ICU hospital bed at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah. I was intubated and taken to emergency surgery to have a colectomy that many thought I would not survive. Throughout my own personal crisis, my hospital staff provided hope, comfort, love and support. My medical team MADE me survive when the odds were grim. My medical team became my “heroes.”
Three years later, I’m standing at the doors of Southside Hospital in Long Island, New York in the middle of the New York City COVID-19 crisis working as an emergency room nurse because this is what I was made for. Today, I know without a doubt why I survived. I survived to provide hope, love and comfort to those in need during this crisis.
The partnership between Intermountain and the metropolitan area’s hospitals has benefits for the Utah system too. Although Utah had only about 4,500 confirmed Covid-19 cases as of April 29, the group of 100 clinicians will bring back experience on how to treat patients who have the virus, Crains reported.
