Guadalupe Regional Medical Center | Health Currents | Fall 2020

Council. But above all else, GRMC relied on our well-ingrained culture of quality and compassion and on the talented, dedicated and heroic physicians and staff who mounted a 24/7 response to this crisis. Heartbreaking hospitalizations By mid-August, over 200 patients had been admitted to GRMC for treatment of COVID-19. Of those, several were transferred here from outside of our region as their own local hospitals were already overwhelmed with patients. Sadly, 40 of those 200 patients passed away from the devastating respiratory illness that has become a hallmark of this disease, and many who recovered are still battling lingering symptoms. Another hardship of this pandemic is the highly contagious nature of the disease. A limited supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) has required mandates that hospitals cannot allow visitors into the hospital. As a result, patients’ families could only stand outside their loved ones’ windows in order to provide support and be as close as possible during their hospitalization. This unnatural situation was traumatic for all involved. An eye-opening narrative The character of a person, and of an organization, is revealed in times of crisis. All of us at GRMC are very proud of the strong character and outstanding response that was provided during this crisis. We have compiled a series of stories from this historic event, titled “Beyond the Masks: The Faces and Stories of GRMC’s Pandemic Response.” We include one of those stories in this edition, as the CEO message. The collection of others—from patients, family members, physicians, housekeepers, nurses, respiratory therapists and more—can be found on our website. We encourage you to make time to review this eye-opening narrative. —Continued from front page Hard times don’t create heroes. It is during the hard times when the hero within us is revealed. History in the making: Take a look at “Beyond the Masks: The Faces and Stories of GRMC’s Pandemic Response”at grmedcenter.com/ about/news-updates . Heroes behind the masks 2  | GRMC Health Currents