By Eve Van de Wal
There is a war underway against the COVID-19 pandemic, and the front line is a dangerous place. Health care providers, including doctors and nurses, and the dedicated professionals in the labs and pharmacies, are in the thick of it every day. By having close contact with patients in their care, these health care professionals are at risk for catching the disease themselves, and then bringing it home to the ones they hold dear.
It is a risk they willingly accept, because to them, caring for others is more than their profession, it is their calling. Serving side by side with doctors and nurses in this battle are the men and women who provide hands-on support. Their call to serve is just as strong.
This includes health care aides who tend to patient needs, the people who keep building systems operational, the food service professionals, the staff who clean and disinfect, the guards who keep the buildings safe and secure, and the administrators who are responsible for the decisions and strategies that underlie it all.
Because of their proximity to those who are sick, they too are at risk for
catching COVID-19, as are their loved ones at home, and those with whom they come in contact as they travel to and from work.
We mustn’t overlook the exceptional providers of care who serve the needs of the sick, injured and frail in patients’ own apartments and homes. Their risk may be even greater because of environmental factors that are beyond their control at the site, or sites, they visit each day.
Front line health care workers who are African American are particularly vulnerable to the lethal nature of the COVID-19 virus. Nationally, and here in our region, the chronic disease states that are significantly more prevalent among African Americans—diabetes, hypertension, obesity, asthma—combined with the social determinants of health including poverty and inadequate housing, are resulting in this outbreak spreading among the African American community and causing a disproportionate number of admissions to intensive care units, and deaths.
In our lifetimes, we have never experienced a health care crisis like this. We may never again see a mobilization of health care services like the one we are witnessing. It is important to understand and address differences in risk that exist across populations.
Each day—from prior to this pandemic, to well after it is resolved—we benefit from the selfless dedication of the people across our community who stand ready, when needed, to serve and care for the sick and injured. We owe them our thanks and our gratitude.
Eve Van de Wal, a former critical care nurse, is regional president at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield in Utica.
