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HEALTHCARE HEROES OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
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unaware that the hospital was taking on the veterans because it had been a busy day in the operating rooms. When she learned, around 3 in the afternoon, she and others went about setting out a welcome mat.
“We made hearts to put on the walls because ... it’s a basement, and it’s white walls, and it’s kind of scary when you walk in,” she explained. “So we decorated it like we were going to stay there. Because if it were my grandparents coming in ... most of these people are confused as is, and they’re coming to this facility they’ve never been to.
“So we decided we were going to stay there,” she went on. “Hours went by, and they still hadn’t arrived because it’s quite the process
to get them here. Finally, I said, ‘let’s get more people down here.’ My boss just started grabbing people from everywhere; people from the command center showed up, and managers from other departments, and CNAs ... everyone just came together, including people I’d never met before in my life, to welcome them here and get them settled in.”
This coming together as a team during that first 24 hours or so set the tone, but it was really only the first chapter in a story that, seven months later, is still being written.
Indeed, soon after the veterans arrived, some began showing signs of the virus, meaning more space would have to be readied for these guests,
and single rooms would be needed to slow and hopefully stifle any spread.
Also, the hospital, and especially its nursing staff, had to pivot to providing long-term-care services.
“Being an acute-care hospital, we’re not normally planning things out for long-term-care residents,” Nurse Manager Christina Straney said. “But many of our nurses have worked in long-term care, so they stepped up and said, ‘let me take this, let me run with this,
let me show you what we do in
nursing homes and how we care for
patients.’”
Meanwhile, some of the certified nursing assistants had worked at the Soldiers’ Home and recognized some of the patients, she went on, adding that this helped create a fluid, almost seamless transition for the veterans.
Likewise, the furloughed physical therapists stepped into their new roles as veterans’ liaisons, a role that came about out of necessity, Hatiras explained.
“We had the matter of individual preferences,” he said. “I would get on a Zoom call, and I would have family members say, ‘remember, Ed doesn’t eat eggs, and he doesn’t like mayo, and he takes his tuna fish this way, and he likes his newspaper every morning’ ... and I’m like, ‘whoa, how am I going to remember all this stuff?’”
The solution was to assign liaisons to each of the veterans. Jeff Ferriss is one of them. He was
furloughed on a Friday and called back to work the following Monday to serve in this unique role.
“My father was a veteran — he spent 20 years in the Air Force. My brother spent four. And I’m also a veteran — I was in the National Guard
and the Air Force Reserves,” he said. “So this was the perfect transition for me; I was happy to come back and help out. Our job was to keep the family members informed, but being therapists,
“At end of the day, I was tired, but it was a good feeling. Because these veterans did”a lot for us, and we owe them for all they’ve done.
we tried to goad them into therapy too. Some of them may not have wanted to do that, but over time, they needed to — they were stuck in their rooms, and we were trying to keep their minds going and keep them going physically. It’s been an honor to serve these people.”
Veterans like Richard Madura. A Korean War vet, he will tell you (without much prodding, by the way) that, through his 85 years, he’s been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time — on most occasions.
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A8 OCTOBER 2020
2020 HEALTHCARE HEROES