My Latino background as a Colombian American was definitely an advantage for treating our patients. One, because I was able to communicate directly in their language. And two, because language is culture, the two go together. So for me to be able to speak Spanish, it was easier to communicate with the families and to better understand what they were going through. The fact that they couldn’t touch or be in the same room as their sick family member was tremendously stressful. Like many other health care workers, there was a degree of burnout and even some degree of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among our staff.
Dr. Juan Manuel Tovar, M.D. Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula Vista, Calif. – 2020 (Photo courtesy Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula Vista)
Ray of Hope My experiences during the pandemic also gave me hope because I saw many courageous people giving of themselves under incredibly difficult circumstances. It definitely changed me. I believe this was a generational and hopefully a once-in-a-lifetime event. I know we'll have more pandemics, but I believe we’ll be better prepared through this experience. For example, the vaccine changed everything. It meant there was a light at the end of the tunnel, that it was now possible to avoid death from COVID-19. During the early period of the pandemic, people were being “intubated”—tubes inserted in their throats to help breathing. Today, we have a whole slew of treatments we can use to help patients, including monoclonal antibodies. I'm immensely proud to have been part of this remarkable group of people at Scripps Mercy Chula Vista, serving our community when they needed us the most.
Nurse Practitioner Charlotte Thomas, far right, works on stabilizing the patient and placing central vascular lines after the patient was intubated, as registered nurse Saul Reynoso, far left, and respiratory therapist Sandra Sandoval, looks on inside a negative pressure isolation room at the ICU at Scripps Mercy Hospital in Chula Vista, Calif., on April 23, 2020. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
April 24, 2020 (Paul Sisson, Wendy Fry, The San Diego Union-Tribune)
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San Diego Latino Legacy – Timeline • Milestones • Stories
Chapter 8 – Facing COVID-19
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