Hello all,

It seems every day there is a new development regarding COVID-19. Since I created this blog, there has been a social media uprising amongst healthcare workers about shortage of PPE, the cases and death globally have skyrocketed, and New York City has turned into what could be described as a warzone. In fact, since I checked 1.5 days ago, cases globally have gone up from 378k to 460k – nearly an increase of 100k in 1.5 days. Deaths have gone up from 16.5k to 20.8k. When we look at percentages in mortality – although it’s hard to give an accurate number given we are unsure how many people have actually been infected – it’s hard to comprehend the impact this disease is having. But, when we see that there have been more than 4000 reported deaths in a day and a half, it helps me understand just how serious this is. I’m hearing arguments like “they’re mostly old people, or people with chronic medical conditions.” But again, I think this statement does not reflect the full story. Yes, it is mostly older people – but young people are also dying. Amongst those are healthcare workers – nurses, attendings, fellows, residents, therapists – all who knew the risks and went into work regardless – likely with the same statistic in their minds. In Italy, 20% of healthcare workers have contracted the disease so far, some who were exposed because they knowingly went into patient rooms with COVID-19 because they did not have any PPE left. Out of the chronic medical conditions, the one most often related with mortality is cardiovascular disease. This is one of the most common medical conditions in the country. It’s as easy to get lost in the big picture as it is in the details. But when we put everything together, we see the seriousness of what is happening right now.

At the same time, I have noticed humanity come together like never before in my life. Countries are readily sharing information with each other. companies are changing their factory’s distribution patterns to make surgical masks and gowns. Communities are coming together to donate PPE to hospitals. Volunteers are offering to make PPE for healthcare workers. People are helping people, despite what the toilet-paper-hoarders of the world may lead you to believe. All of this feels surreal. It is apparent that we are at an important time in our history. It’s almost as if the world is telling us the status quo cannot be so anymore. What we do now and after this pandemic has ended will shape our future in the coming decades – because this is not the last we will be facing. And the next will be sooner than we would like. For once though, I believe that humanity is better than its mistakes, and that we can rise to the task.

I started this blog to share some of the stories of the people that have inspired me in our hospital. But, acknowledging that this is a global problem, I am going to be expanding this blog to my friends around the country, so that we understand each other and the challenges that we hide under a façade each day. And so we can see our growth as we overcome these challenges. I welcome anyone in the healthcare field that wants to share their story – please reach out to me.

If you have read this far, thank you, and sorry for the long post.