Page 4 - KMAland Healthcare Heroes

4 A Salute to KMAland Healthcare Heroes KMAland 2021

The VOICES BEHIND

THE MASKS
at Montgomery County

Memorial Hospital

n late 2019 I remember an impact on my work life. Yes, on, I kept hearing more and
hearing about this virus I remembered being frightened more about it and then cases
Iover in Wuhan, China and about H1N1 back in 2009. We were showing up in the United
how it was making everyone got through that virus just fine States. The little warning light
who contracted it quite ill. There and there was very little effect in my brain was starting to flick-
were threats that it would make it on us, I figured this would be the er. It didn’t take long until my
to the United States but I didn’t same. Ebola was also very scary internal warning system was in
give it a lot of thought. I’ve been but, again, didn’t really reach us full alarm mode and I knew we
doing Infection Prevention and here in rural Southwest Iowa. I were in for a ride and what a ride
Employee Health for over 20 wrote policies to address these it has been!
years and we’ve had a few minor possible threats but they never MCMH went into Incident

outbreaks and concerns over developed into anything for us. Command mode in mid-March
mumps and measles but noth- I figured Coronavirus would fol- at the direction of our CEO at
ing had ever really had much of low suit. However, as time went the time, David Abercrombie,