Page 50 - Healthcare News Sept.-Oct. 2020

HEALTHCARE HEROES OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
Jacobson
Continued from page A25
“Yes, I was continuing to meet with residents, although they were very frail and very sick, and yes, I was continuing to be in touch with family members, because they were unable to come into the building — I was able to give them a sense of how their loved ones were doing,” she recalled. “But much of the focus shifted to the staff.”
And it has remained there, months after the height of the tragedy, because the need remains — and is significant.
“I was just involved in a conversation with a nurse,” she said while speaking with HCN. “She took me aside and said, ‘now that COVID has passed, many of us are dealing with PTSD [post- traumatic stress disorder]. I’m not sure what kind of help we need, but we need some help.’”
She has been providing such help, and in several ways, one of them being help in securing counseling for the many staff members impacted by the crisis.
“It was quite clear, as I was visiting the units and talking to staff, that there was a lot of trauma,” she recalled. “So what I wound up doing, with the help of a lot of great friends in the therapy world, was put together a therapy initiative for our staff.
I had a list of about 30 mental-health counselors, trained in trauma and crisis counseling, who made themselves available for phone, Zoom, or otherwise, to be available for up to six hours, for free.
“I started making matches,” she went on, adding that maybe 20-25 staff members took advantage
of the program. “Some of these people got sick, so for some of them, it was when they got back and had gone through all they had gone through with their own illness.”
Each day, she would arrive at the facility and ask herself how she could carry out her role, how she could help. And seemingly each day, there was a different answer.
She let me say goodbye to my mother ... she was there to bridge the gap. It is because of Devorah that my journey was so peaceful.”
Halpern also shared an e-mail from Lola
White, an LPN and unit manager at the Leavitt Nursing Home, which was sent to her unsolicited. “Throughout this pandemic,” it read, “Devorah has always been there and ready to help in any way she could.
“One day, I was attending to a resident who lost the COVID battle,” it continued. “She immediately
It might be creating a new prayer and inspiration card — one of them says simply, “be the change that you wish to see in the world.” In response to George Floyd’s
death and the Black Lives
Matter movement, she held an
all-campus moment of silence
and urged individuals and the
organization as a whole to
seek ways to defeat bigotry
and racism. In response to an
on-campus arson attempt, she
spoke up against hate crimes
and anti-Semitism. On more than a few occasions, she helped box up the belongings of residents who had died as a result of COVID-19.
While Jacobson’s recollections of the past seven months and thoughts about her work certainly resonate, comments from others about the comfort and support she provided speak volumes about her impact during this time of crisis.
Halpern forwarded this comment from a family member: “Devorah went in to see my parents every day and she called me every day to give me updates. My only regret was that I could not hold my mother’s hand. Devorah held her hand for me.
“Before she helped me, I felt defeated. Her acts of compassion for me and every o”ther staff member in the facility made it easier to cope.
asked me, as she always did, if I was OK. Next thing I know, she was suited and booted, by my side, helping me. Before she helped me, I felt defeated. Her acts of compassion for me and every other staff member in the facility made it easier to cope ... She set up meals, counselors, and even called and texted staff that were out sick or had a sick family member ... I am looking for a way to thank her for everything.”
Needless to say, many people share that sentiment. n
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A38 OCTOBER 2020
2020 HEALTHCARE HEROES