With our series “Our Hospice Heroes,” we want to share with you stories of resilience and courage exhibited by our Hospice of the Chesapeake Team. We hope you will value the insight they provide and clearly understand by hearing directly from them why we consider them our hospice heroes as they care for those living with illness and loss. The care they provided does not stop even during a pandemic and it is more important than ever. This is what commitment looks like.
Today’s hero . . . Allyson, a clinical director who joined our Hospice of the Chesapeake Family in January 2019. Here is her COVID-19 story:
It’s a Friday at 4:25 pm and I received a call from a fellow director of clinical services about a patient. The patient, who had been admitted to hospice care one day prior, was in respiratory distress and the family had her lying on the couch because there was no hospital bed in the home because of concerns that the patient was COVID positive. I spoke with the supervisor at the medical equipment company to let them know we had a patient in distress and they really needed to have the hospital bed delivered right away. The supervisor shared with me that due to the national shortage, they did not have any personal protective equipment (PPE) for their delivery technicians until their much-needed supplies arrive. Well that just was not good enough for a Hospice of the Chesapeake patient.
The supervisor shared with me that due to the national shortage, they did not have any PPE for their delivery technicians until their much-needed supplies arrive. Well that just was not good enough for a Hospice of the Chesapeake patient.
I asked the supervisor, “If I bring PPE for your delivery technician, how soon could you deliver the bed?” The supervisor asked, “how will you get the PPE to the technician?” and I told her I would meet him in front of the patient’s home in the street, if necessary. The supervisor told me she would call me right back. Within 15 minutes, the supervisor called me back and said, “The technician will be at the home by 6 pm.
I gathered the PPE and headed to the patient’s home to wait for the delivery technician to arrive. When he arrived, I met him in the driveway with the PPE. With a smile, the technician simply said, “Thank you so much.”
We are very grateful for Allyson’s quick action and her focus on true partnership to ensure our patient received everything they needed to provide comfort during what is unprecedented times.
#Partnersknowbest #MDStrong #HospiceHeroes #HealthcareHeroes
Thank you, Allyson!
