Jefferson COVID Stories
When did you realize that dealing with COVID was going to be a reality?
Featured Response
Medical Assistant Nary Seng on working at the Center City test site
I am one of the MAs who works at the test site in Center City, and I have two other staff with me. I was asked to participate at the COVID-19 testing site on March 14. I was scared and worried about my kids health, not my own I have a 5 year old son who has bad asthma and I was scared to bring it back home. So I made a sacrifice by deciding to help with the test site and not be around my sons. I left my kids with their grandparents and worked 7 days a week to help out with the testing site. I made this decision because I wanted to help contain the spread of the virus. I miss my kids every day, I miss kissing them and hugging them-- which people take for granted. I miss having dinner with my close friends and family. But I know that at Jefferson we are working hard every day trying to find ways to help control the spread of this virus. The TJUH nurse Float Pool and my staff have been a great support team, we comfort each other and support each other during this madness. Jeffrey Salvatore is an amazing RN Nurse-- he keeps our spirits up and helps us during our breaking point moments. I do not regret the choice I made to be a part of the COVID-19 testing site team in the Center City area. I had to build another family during this madness, but have great opportunities to be part of a team that is making a difference in the healthcare world.
– Nary Seng, Medical Assistant TJUH Pool Team
Before Jefferson was overwhelmed with COVID patients, I volunteered in New York for a weekend. They had little time to prepare, and it was a grim scene. There were limited medications, equipment, and ancillary staff. The interns knew how to change ventilator settings because they often did not have a respiratory therapist available until the afternoon.
The nurses were caring for four patients and they were volunteering from all parts of the hospital (ED, PACU, telemetry). Patients were sharing dialysis machines because there were not enough to run continuously. An elderly woman was admitted from a nursing home in renal failure and altered mental status and within a day she developed shock, respiratory failure and was placed on a ventilator. I spoke to her niece who understood how gravely ill she was and made the decision to transition to comfort care with compassionate withdrawal of life support. I had to explain that not coming to see her was okay, we would stay with her. We video conferenced so she could see her Aunt, I explained that she would not have wanted her to contract this terrible virus. This was stark reality for me when the same situation arose the following day with a 42 year old patient.
– Pulmonary and Critical Care Physician
March 17, 2020. Later than I should have realized COVID-19 was going to be reality. That was the day I got the message about signing up for shifts with the drive-thru testing center. My fitness competition in LA was cancelled, my trip to Florida with my family for Easter would be cancelled, San Fran called for a shelter in place the day before. Grocery stores were emptied out. It felt like a silent chaos was in the air.
–RN, TJUH Pool Team
Well it really hit me when I received a call from a family member that my sister died in a local hospital three days after being infected with the coronavirus. We had just buried my brother three weeks before that (cancer). OMG!!! It caught everyone in my family by storm…Sometimes you don’t realize how bad things are until it hits home…However, I continued to do my job and assist as many people as possible, even if it was just giving someone a mask or gloves…Heart broken from the loss of my loved ones…But I believe they are present with the LORD in heaven…
– First Responder, Security Department
Riding the 47 bus to South Philly on what would be my last commute for an indefinite period, I suddenly realized the bus was silent except for people coughing. I looked around and saw a lot of masked faces, even then. My bag was heavy with the weight of my work laptop, several notebooks, and a collection of accumulated books I'd kept in my office. I actually thought, "This is real." And unreal. I haven't ridden the bus since that day, although I do sometimes wave to the bus drivers as they go by and give them a thumbs up. They have one of the highest rates of Covid-19 in Philly. Reality? I may never ride the bus again.
– Employee, Office of Professional Writing
COVID was real March 16th when we all said a last good bye-good luck to everyone on our floor, and I had my family help me drag home my laptop and two screens to clear a little corner in the den to learn to work remotely. I am old school - wore a nurse's cap when I started, and this has been a challenge. I think my forehead is black and blue from banging my head on the desk, spending hours on the phone with TAC. I have done more star-spangled swearing these past few weeks than my whole life - but it is getting better and I am learning so much. With the help of others I am so grateful to be employed, and to be able to make a contribution.
– BSN, Clinical Documentation Specialist
I was wary of COVID-19 by late February, but realized in the second week of March that COVID-19 was going to be reality hitting home. It was a mad dash to finish experiments at lab that we could and to stop any that were on going. Communication between my colleagues and I was happening on a daily basis. It was a whirlwind of things to do and coordinate schedules while reducing hours significantly to 4 hours a week total and then now we are at 2 hours a week total. It has been eye opening, and we would have been better prepared for the situation had we started a bit earlier to wrap things up. Hindsight 20/20, we will be better next time (if) something like this happens again, we have a plan in place, designated personnel, and now experience. Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want, and all we can do now is reflect and improve.
– PhD Student
I realized dealing with COVID was going to be a reality when I noticed Bath and Bodyworks was out of the hundreds of glittery hand sanitizers that they normally stock. It did not alert me to the severity of infection as much as it did the fear of the population.
– Student, College of Population Health
Mid-March - When I heard that schools were closing until mid April. I had originally thought we would be social distancing for only 2 weeks. Hearing that this would go on for a month (and now pretty much indefinitely) made it very real.
– Administrator, Department of Family & Community Medicine
When the scheduled May Jefferson Singer concert was cancelled (even before classes were). Sad realization - as it was 7 weeks away.
– Fashion Design professor
I realized this when I was in a super market and I saw so many elderly people at risk shopping for their essentials.
– Communications student
I felt it was real when I got the call to work at the testing site and my heart dropped to the floor because I was worried about my sons and my parents who all have Asthma.
– Medical Assistant, Practice Support Team
When we were told we were not returning to work. It was frightening.
– Occupational Therapist, Rehabilitation Medicine
Talking to the dean minutes after receiving the email about classes transitioning to online. I’ll never forget that moment being surrounded by a handful of friends and professors in the nearly empty studio and realizing it would be our last time together. The last time being in the studio that I have spent early mornings and late nights in every day for the last few years. There was so much on all of our minds and we knew there was no way around the fact that life was going to be extremely different. It was an abrupt change and that was completely out of our control.
– Architecture student