By Kelly Jolliff, Infection Prevention and Emergency Preparedness Manager As we look to celebrate the New Year and say good-bye to the history making 2020, let us look back and reflect on what we have learned and how this can help keep us safe in the coming year. For many…
Dawn Morehouse entered the hospital room and sat down beside a patient suffering from COVID. His chest X-rays showed his accompanying pneumonia was spreading and his oxygen levels were dropping so low he would soon require intubation. Knowing this, the patient said he decided to discontinue treatment. As a Memorial…
Randy Stouder has worked as a Respiratory Therapist for more than 40 years, including 19 years at Beacon. Since February, Randy has cared for COVID patients in the Emergency Room, Intermediate Critical Care, Medical floors and Intensive Care units at Elkhart General Hospital. “To accurately describe what is happening in…
Amber Hodges, an Elkhart General Hospital registered respiratory therapist, shares her perspective about caring for COVID patients who are about to die. "I honestly didn’t think this was going to be any worse than the flu. I just figured it was going to be something we could get under control…
Beacon Health System hospitals continue to break records, and the surge of critically ill patients has required us to reassign staff and repurpose space within our facilities. We are offering a look at our COVID unit at Elkhart General Hospital to the public for the first time. Listen to and see the perspectives of our frontline doctors, nurses and staff through our Eye On Health partnership with WSBT.
Erin Fini, a certified respiratory therapist at Elkhart General Hospital, describes caring for COVID patients. "We have patients coming into the Elkhart General Emergency Department who are having trouble breathing by the carloads every day. We see patients who are young and old, patients who have preexisting conditions, and people…
The staff at Elkhart General Hospital lined the hallway, cheering and applauding for a retired elementary school teacher. Bennie Payton, too, threw her arms up in the air after learning she was the 1,000th COVID patient to be discharged from Beacon Health System. “I’m truly blessed,” said Payton, 74, who…
Rev. Sarah Samson, M.Div., BCC, Spiritual Care Coordinator at Memorial Hospital, offers her perspective about providing spiritual care to patients and their loved ones during the pandemic. When a patient comes in, when a traumatized family shows up, when things get sad or hard to cope with, chaplains help…
Story by Langston Johnson, Intern, Beacon Corporate Communications The intercom rang inside the Memorial Hospital Critical Care Unit and Taylor Freedline watched everyone around her pause. The Bethel University graduate, who was working on clinicals to finish nursing school in March, listened to the announcement they anticipated hearing sooner or…
Dr. Luke White shares his perspective of working on the front line of the pandemic. As a Beacon Medical Group critical care and pulmonary specialist, Dr. White has cared for some of our sickest COVID patients in the Memorial and Elkhart General Intensive Care Units. Dr. Luke White of…
