HEALTH
*Source: Cleveland Clinic Florida. Data is from 8/1 - 8/18/21 and includes Indian River Hospital, Martin North Hospital and Tradition Hospital.
32
Treasure Coast Medical Report
Cardona says. “We advocate following evidence-based
treatment and care that has been scientifically demonstrated
to have benefits.”
‘WE’RE SAD’
Frontline caregiver Melissa Bennett is a nurse at Martin
County-North and is the interim ICU manager. “The
impact that this virus is having on us is sobering,” Bennett
says. “I’ve had to console teenagers who have lost their
mom and their dad. As a mother, that’s traumatizing.”
Healthcare workers choose to be in a business that
takes care of people, but “we find it really sad when we’re
looking after people who could have avoided getting that
sick through preventative measures,” Delaney says.
It is a frustration shared by Stuart’s Dr. James Vopal, an
oncologist with The Breast Care Center.
“We can’t abandon people with other healthcare issues,”
Vopal says.
While encouraging high-risk patients to get vaccinated,
he encourages all his patients to increase intake of vitamin
D3, vitamin C, selenium and zinc to boost the body’s
immune system.
“Viruses are smart. They mutate.”
NOT OVER, YET
Staff working 16-hour days. Hospitals half-full of infectious
patients. Limited supplies. It sounds more like a
bustling metropolis or a Third World country than home.
As Rothman says, “We should not have to experience
this in the United States in 2021.”
Although reports have grown grimmer along the Treasure
Coast, COVID-19 has also opened the eyes of many
who may have taken healthcare — and healthcare providers
— for granted.
“I am incredibly grateful to all of our caregivers,”
Rothman says. “They’ve demonstrated the capacity to
manage challenges on a daily basis, to persevere and,
through it all, to deliver a high quality of care with both
compassion and empathy. I can’t thank them enough for
what they do.”
MOVING FORWARD
“The goal is to return as much as possible to prepandemic
operations once we’re able,” Rosencrance
LRMC
Hospitals have seen so much death in recent months that employees may line
the hallways to cheer for COVID survivors as they head home, such as with
this gathering at Lawnwood Regional in Fort Pierce.
NEARLY
of patients
90%
hospitalized with
COVID-19 were
UNVACCINATED.*
says. “We also want to leverage the lessons learned during the
pandemic including telehealth and community partnerships and
other areas.”
Doctors, nurses, hospitals, emergency personnel, support
staff — heroes in the midst of a war that is not over. As she
spoke at Cleveland Clinic’s news conference, Bennett’s voice
broke as she pleaded with the community.
“Vaccination can save your life,” she says. “It can save your
loved ones. It can prevent your children from crying and missing
you, so we ask that you get vaccinated. Please.”
Rothman stresses the need for the community’s help.
“Today is an opportunity for us to come together, to keep each
other safe so that we can put an end to this pandemic,” he says.
“We can do it, but it requires all of us to protect each other so that
we can move forward.”