HOPE INSIDE A HOSPITAL
A YEAR INTO THE PANDEMIC, PHOTOJOURNALIST RORY DOYLE DOCUMENTS A DAY INSIDE A HOSPITAL AS LIFE CARRIES ON, ALBEIT WITH ADAPTIONS
The lobby at Baptist Memorial Hospital - Golden Triangle buzzes with traffic in the morning. After nearly a year adjusting to COVID-19, patients, visitors, doctors, nurses and staff are all met with new routines upon entry - a body temperature screening and a complimentary facemask to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This is the reality in 2021.
With all the challenges the pandemic presented last year, daily life goes on at its steady pace inside the hospital. Mothers give birth to new life, doctors and nurses continue to heal and save, housekeepers make facilities shine, kitchen staff deliver the comfort of food, EMTs and paramedics remain constantly alert and the chaplain makes his rounds, bringing spiritual comfort.
For those employed by Baptist, each new shift reignites a call to service - a commitment to patient care, no matter what form each day’s unique challenges present.
Amanda Edwards, RN, poses for a portrait in personal protective equipment for a COVID-19 testing site at the hospital.
Monica McGill, assistant pharmacy director, preps Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to be administered at the hospital.
LEFT Patient Marvin Singleton receives care inside the busy emergency room.
RIGHT Exercise physiologist Dexter Shelton leads a therapy session with Martin Beaver, left, Toni Gunter, inside the cardiac rehab unit.
“I think COVID-19 has humbled all of us, because this disease has shown us the worst of the worst,” said pulmonologist Dr. Ana Bonetti. “It’s made me think more about the value of life, especially in the last year, where so many people have lost family members. In a way, we become our patients’ family because they can’t have visitors now, and that’s something we took for granted before.”
But in seeing the way the world has reacted to the pandemic has only served to reassure Bonetti.
“Another thing we’ve learned is that human beings are able to adapt, and that gives me hope,” she added. “I’m hopeful this situation will help us to be better humans in the future. And I’d ask the community to continue to trust members of the health care system. We are doing the best we can to take care of your loves ones.”
The dedication toward patient wellbeing can be found universally across hospital departments. During her 31-year career, Shirley McGee has done her best to keep patients comfortable and fed. For the bulk of those years, she was s hostess, delivering meals directly to patients in their rooms. The pandemic caused a change of duties for her, now restricting her solely to the kitchen as a cook and prepper.
“I love meeting new people, so the biggest challenge is not being able to visit with them anymore,” said McGee. “I pray that things will get back to normal soon, and I would tell everyone to go ahead and get the vaccine for their safety. It’s going to get better. Put God and faith first and everything else will come.”
A whiteboard sign offers words of encouragement for staff inside the kitchen at Baptist Memorial Hospital - Golden Triangle.
Pulmonologist and intensivist Dr. Ana Bonetti poses for a portrait in the Critical Care Unit.
Shirley McGee, who has worked at the hospital for 31 years, used to be a hostess who delivered meals to patients, but due to the pandemic, her job is now restricted to the kitchen as a cook and prepper.
LEFT Brenda Porter, PCA, hugs patient Debbie Clark after brushing Clark’s hair just before her departure from the hospital.
RIGHT Shanika Frierson, left, and Ramona Sanders, sort laundry. The hospital is one of the few in the Southeast that carries out laundry services on site.
Complimentary face masks remain on a table inside a COVID-19 vaccination room at the hospital
This faith, of course, is central to Baptist’s mission in keeping with the three-fold ministry of Christ - healing, preaching and teaching.
When the pandemic materialized in early 2020, the term “essential worker” emerged as a central talking point and helped develop a mainstream recognition of the hard-working people who maintain the operation of our country, particularly those on the front lines against the battle with the virus. It sparked a better understanding of dependency, and revealed the risks those working in health care are taking for the betterment of society.
“This has been a trying period for all of us,” said Jonathan Blackburn, chaplain and director of pastoral care, in between visits with patients. “We’ve had to pay extreme attention to the physical, spiritual and emotional health of our patients. This past year has reminded us just how much we really do need each other.”
Patient Harvey Blaxton holds hands in prayer with Jonathan Blackburn, chaplain and director of pastoral care at the hospital.
Environmental Services employee Tyrona Pratt poses for a portrait while cleaning the room of a recently discharged patient in the Critical Care Unit.
Sandy Weseli, RN, administers a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to Wanda Brackin.
LEFT COVID screener Tiffany Smith, right, takes the temperature of visitor Kayla Craig at the hospital entrance, standard protocol for everyone who enters the facility.
RIGHT Wiley Rhodes puts a bow on his 5-day-old newborn, Arley, in the maternity ward, alongside mother, Bradley Rhodes, who also works as a nurse manager in the mother/baby department.
PHOTOS AND STORY BY RORY DOYLE
