Val Verde RMC | Keeping Well | Fall/Otono 2020

4 Keeping Well/Mantenerse Sano Hospital news/Noticias del hospital E L CONDADO DE VAL VERDE se cerró muy rápidamente cuando apareció la COVID-19. Muchas personas se quedaron en casa. Quienes pudieron hacerlo, trabajaron desde sus hogares. Muchos negocios estaban cerrados. No había escuela. Cuando ibas a comprar comestibles, se requerían mascarillas y distanciamiento social, y el número de compradores era limitado. Parecía que nuestra comunidad iba a tener suerte. La gente empezó a sentirse más relajada. Luego vino el Día de la Madre y el Día de la Recordación. La gente se reunió. La cantidad de casos positivos comenzó a subir. Los hospitales de San Antonio comenzaron a ocupar las camas de las unidades de cuidados intensivos. VVRMC respondió y añadió rápidamente unidades de COVID-19 para dar cabida a una mayor cantidad de pacientes infectados por el coronavirus. El personal médico del Ejército y la Marina vino para ayudar. VVRMC quedó devastado cuando perdimos dos empleados a causa de la COVID-19. El personal de primera COVID Communications keeps Las Comunicaciones sobre la COVID lo mantienen informado V AL VERDE COUNTY locked down pretty quickly when COVID-19 hit. A lot of people were staying home. Those who were able to were working from home. A lot of businesses were closed. There was no school. When you went to get groceries, masks and social distancing were required and the number of shoppers was limited. It seemed as if our community was going to be lucky. People started to feel more relaxed. Then came Mother’s Day and Memorial Day. People gathered. The number of positive cases started to climb. Hospitals in San Antonio began filling beds in intensive care units. VVRMC responded by quickly adding COVID-19 units to accommodate larger numbers of patients infected by the coronavirus. Army and Navy medical personnel came in to help. VVRMC was devastated when two employees were lost to COVID-19. Frontline hospital personnel were working very long hours. Ambulances from other states came in to help. People wanted to know what was going on. SHARING WHAT WE KNOW Senior leadership at VVRMC concluded it was time to make certain the community knew what was happening with COVID-19 at VVRMC facilities. We decided that utilizing VVRMC’s Facebook page, website ( vvrmc.org ) , electronic billboards and the local newspaper would be the best way to share information. Every Monday, CEO Linda Walker posts timely and relevant information about the status of COVID-19 at VVRMC. Every day there is a post on our Facebook page with information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and other reliable sources about COVID-19. Inspiring stories about patients and staff who recovered from COVID-19 are shared. Sadly, the deaths of two staff members were also shared. It was assumed the information would be well received. It has been far more than that. Where there used to be hundreds of likes and shares, there are