(Courtesy of SMGH) “Is this St. Mary’s?” asked the gruff-sounding gentleman calling directly to Vanessa Warner, director of marketing at St. Mary’s General Hospital. “Yes,” answered Warner, not knowing what to expect with the sound of his voice.
“I want you to do something,” said the caller. “How may I help you then?” asked Warner.
“I want you to tell everybody at the hospital that I appreciate them and I am praying for them!” And then he hung up—no idea who he was!
“What makes this call so unusual,” said George Matyjewicz, Ph.D., community liaison at St. Mary’s General Hospital, “is that in 2020, healthcare workers were regarded as heroes with signs prominently displayed, food being delivered and gratitude from the patients. But today, it seems that some people simply take for granted the efforts—and very real health risks that hospital staff are taking. And this is in hospitals throughout the country.”1
Remember the cars going by St. Mary’s General Hospital for a half-hour with drivers honking and kids waving from the windows and holding up signs as a tribute to the staff? And the kids who prepared signs and cards for the staff to let them know that they care? And how Passaic Mayor Hector Lora and an impressive parade of police and fire vehicles from Passaic, Clifton and Paterson came out to thank the “heroes”? Mayor Lora said, “We’re in this together; we’re going to get through it together.” Events like these are important for morale, of course, but they also help strengthen our ties to the communities that we serve.
So what happened? How did their once-heroic efforts become humdrum? What did they do wrong?
COVID-19 has been with us since 2019 with no letup in sight. Omicron, the latest variant, is more contagious. and hospitalizations are up throughout the country with omicron and delta variants. New Jersey has the second highest per capita hospitalization rate at 71% which, coincidently, is the percentage of full vaccinations.2 Many patients are coming to the hospital “with COVID” as opposed to “for COVID,” meaning they come in for another ailment and test positive for COVID.
And hospitals throughout the country are all experiencing staff shortages as workers become exhausted, retire early or catch COVID themselves. Can you imagine going to work every day and seeing this huge overflow of patients—and many of them dying? The stress level is very high.
Enough already—let’s end this crisis! As we are well aware, it’s in His hands as to when this pandemic ends. Our role is to comply with the healthcare professionals who are saying to get vaccinated, wear masks and avoid large gatherings, especially indoors.
New World War
Let’s look at this from another direction. What would happen if we were at war with another country and the enemy was dropping bombs on us? The alarms would ring, and we would all rush to the bomb shelters or be killed. Or if they decided to use biological or viral warfare, spreading a bacterial agent like anthrax? or maybe a viral agent like smallpox? That’s what we have now—the enemy is COVID and the agents are the variants.
Compare COVID to smallpox, which was first referenced in 430 BCE and the Plague of Athens. Let’s just look at the 20th century, where it is estimated that smallpox was responsible for 300–500 million deaths.3 In the early 1950s an estimated 50 million cases of smallpox occurred in the world each year. As recently as 1967, the World Health Organization estimated that 15 million people contracted the disease and that 2 million died in that year. After successful vaccination campaigns throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the WHO certified the global eradication of smallpox in December 1979.
Let’s Give Some Extra Love To Our Caretakers
When this COVID crisis first started we were treating others with respect—reaching out to help others, thanking our healthcare heroes. Maybe Hashem is telling us that it’s time to examine ourselves and curtail our ego, our feelings of elitism, and add that respect to our usual teshuva, tefillah, and tzedakah—repentance, prayer and charity—so that we annul this evil decree.
The very best way you can support frontline heroes, and the communities they protect, is to follow the personal precautions that can stop the spread of COVID-19. Gather outdoors if possible. Social distance. Wear facemasks. Wash your hands frequently. And by all means, stay home if you are sick.
At St. Mary’s General we have a task force of physician leaders, executives, quality experts and infection prevention specialists who meet at least twice a day to examine and review all safety and infection prevention strategies. As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to be an evolving public health concern, St. Mary’s General will continue to work closely with local health officials, along with the New Jersey Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control.
To ALL the staff at St. Mary’s General Hospital—not only the medical staff, but the behind-the-scenes support staff, we thank you for ALL that you do and for helping fight this pandemic!
St. Mary’s General Hospital—nationally recognized, locally preferred—among the top hospitals in America for health, quality and patient safety. A center of excellence for maternal-child, the hospital has over 550 physicians and 1,200 employees, with every staff member committed to providing respectful, personalized, high-quality care—to satisfy patients’ needs and exceed their expectations. St. Mary’s General is a proud member of Prime Healthcare, which has more Patient Safety Excellence Award recipients for five consecutive years (2016-2020) than any other health system in the country, including a “Top 15 Healthcare System” by Truven Health Analytics. To learn more about St. Mary’s General Hospital, visit https://www.smh-nj.com/ or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/StMarysGeneral.
For more information, please contact George Matyjewicz, PhD, community liaison at [email protected].
2 “Here’s Where COVID-19 Hospitalizations, Cases Are Rising and Falling” Jan 14, 2022 https://www.healthline.com/health-news/here-are-the-states-where-covid-19-is-increasing-2
3 Wikipedia History of Smallpox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_smallpox
