Inside Philadelphia, PA hospitals, ER doctors and nurses say Hope has replaced Fear

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

View from the community hospitals around Philadelphia dealing with COVID-19 over the past year and today. Karen

Philadelphia Inquirer 2/10/21 

A Dose of Hope

It’s been a tough year for ER doctors and nurses in the Philadelphia region. They’ve come a long way since those first terrible months.

Quote

...Now, nearly a year later, Philadelphia-area hospitals are still swamped with coronavirus patients, but they’re younger and less sick, and they don’t wait until it’s too late to go to the ER. Medical staff know better how to care for them. There are more treatment options, too, like monoclonal antibodies....

...The Inquirer spent five days last month shadowing nurses and doctors at three local ERs — Roxborough in Philadelphia, Suburban in Montgomery County, and Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol. Prime Healthcare, which runs all three community hospitals, invited reporters to gauge how battle-tested staffers are faring almost a year into the pandemic. They’ve run a marathon at a sprinter’s pace. While the finish line is not yet in sight, it feels within reach.

“So if we look at the journey, the journey is from uncertainty to some hope now,” said Dr. Mathew Mathew, chief medical officer at Suburban Hospital in Norristown. “We can see the evolution of the hope.”...