These Whatcom health care workers are fighting COVID disinformation, stress
Whatcom County health care workers are weary and demoralized by the recent rise in COVID-19 cases and are frustrated with the continued resistance among some people for the vaccines and masking mandates that medical science knows can fight the new coronavirus pandemic.
But they remain committed to their profession and empathetic to those who are suffering, two of Whatcom County’s top health officials said at an Aug. 20 press conference focused on the aggressive COVID-19 delta variant.
“This surge is stressing all of our systems,” said Whatcom County Health Director Erika Lautenbach during the online press conference.
Lautenbach was joined by Dr. Sudhakar Karlapudi of St. Joseph Hospital, who is also PeaceHealth’s chief medical officer for the Northwest region.
“I think this is the biggest challenge that health care has faced in the last 100 years,” Karlapudi said in response to a Bellingham Herald reporter’s questions.
“It’s being at the front lines for an 18-month period, day and night, seeing your colleagues fall sick and working longer shifts. It’s hard. It is very, very hard, to be a physician right now, a nurse, a CNA, a lab tech, a radiology tech, because we are — everybody is — kind of exhausted,” he said.
“(But) while we are feeling exhausted, we haven’t forgotten — and we actually remind ourselves — we know that what we do is very, very important,” he said.
Nurses, doctors and others involved with patient care provide emotional support for each other, he said.
“We find resilience sometimes in areas where it’s hard to find, honestly,” he said. “But we stand with each other and get through another day.”
Some 87% of PeaceHealth caregivers in Whatcom County are vaccinated against COVID-19 and unvaccinated workers will not be working in patient-care positions after Sept. 1, Karlapudi told The Herald in an email Tuesday, Aug. 24.
But across Whatcom County, only 63% of residents had started the vaccination process by Aug. 21, according to the Health Department website.
Health care workers must be vaccinated by Oct. 18 under a state order and the hospital was requiring face masks for staff, patients and visitors before the recent statewide mandate.
But still, the hospital is seeing weekly protests against the vaccination rules.
“It is disappointing when we see community members express their views that sometimes are hurtful to what we have done in the hospital for a very long time,” Karlapudi said at the press conference. “But we understand that it is their right and we respect that. At the same time, it’s also our responsibility to tell the community what we see from a purely scientific standpoint.”
Lautenbach said vaccines have been required for school attendance and employment in other professions long before COVID-19 became a political issue and courts have held that such rules are constitutional.
She said similar emotional effects are being seen in the Health Department, which organizes testing sites, conducts contact tracing of infected people, advises businesses on how to protect employees and customers, and provides information to the public, among other duties.
“I have staff that we are still trying to give a solid week off after 18 months of working,” Lautenbach said.
Early in the pandemic, some Health Department employees were transferred from their regular restaurant inspection or sewage testing duties to help with direct pandemic response, but as COVID-19 cases eased in recent weeks, they went back to their “day jobs,” Lautenbach said.
Other temporary and part-time employees were no longer needed — and it’s tougher now to hire workers as the delta variant spreads at a rate not seen in eight months, she said.
“It’s really disheartening for staff to be pulled back into the response after feeling like there was that light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. “I think that people are just really tired and they’re really struggling with — both personally and professionally — the effects this long-term response has had on each of us.”
Lautenbach said it’s difficult to keep up morale amid the misinformation and disinformation from a vocal minority in the face of a sharp increase in illnesses and hospitalizations.
We’ve had an impact, we know we’ve saved lives over the course of the work, and we know the hospital has as well,” Lautenbach said. “But it’s hard to see people, like (Karlapudi) said, people who are getting really sick and some dying from this now-preventable disease.”
Community support
Hospital spokeswoman Bev Mayhew told The Herald that members of the public do show their appreciation — and it’s appreciated.
“We are continuing to get an outpouring of community support for our caregivers, including offers of music and heartfelt cards that we print and distribute. It’s truly humbling,” Mayhew said.
Support was being sought for hospital staff this week at the social media site Reddit.
A thread at r/Bellingham reads:
“Please send cards, letters, signs & banners thanking and encouraging our local hospital workers.
“If you are part of an organization whose members might join in writing, please share this with them, and share as widely as possible among friends and neighbors. Morale is at historic lows, and hearing from us might help cut through the isolation.
“Mail to: The Workers At St Joseph Hospital / PeaceHealth 2901 Squalicum Pkwy, Bellingham, WA 98225
“We are also seeking musicians who would volunteer to play hopeful instrumental music for a half-hour to 45 minutes outside the employee entrance during shift changes. All musicians must be vaxxed and masked. No singing or wind instruments. The space will be level and covered. The hospital will announce scheduled music in advance so workers can plan to linger if they’re able.”
There is a Google doc to sign up to play. Contact Flip Breskin on Facebook for the link.
