Eye On Health: Beacon SHINE program supports healthcare staff through pandemic

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Beacon Health System’s SHINE program – Supporting Health In Negative Events – was initially created to help healthcare workers address, process and cope with isolated traumatic events. But when the COVID-19 pandemic began, our clinical and spiritual leaders immediately recognized a need for a continuing response.“You can see the strain,”…

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We’re underwater”: Memorial ER doctor describes hospital crisis, COVID surge

Dr. Donald Zimmer, an Emergency Room physician at Memorial Hospital, candidly talks about the crisis our Beacon hospitals are currently facing. "We're underwater," Dr. Zimmer says about the number of COVID-positive and seriously ill patients seeking care. "Every day more patients are coming in. ... It feels like every day is worse than the last."

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Beacon COVID survivor makes plea to get vaccinated

Maria Galvez hopes that by sharing her story, someone reading this will get vaccinated. She didn’t. Her husband didn’t. They wore masks and thought they’d be fine. Maria was hospitalized with COVID for 20 days. Her nurses helped her say good-bye to her husband on an iPad at Memorial Hospital. “I thought I was going to die. I cry and wonder when, when can I get rid of this?” Maria says, holding up the nasal tube connecting to an oxygen tank in her South Bend home. “We all need to get vaccinated now. … We are killing ourselves, instead of helping ourselves.” Dr. Ismail Al-Ani, Critical Care Pulmonologist, reiterates how most patients who are dying from COVID or who become sick enough to be hospitalized are unvaccinated. "Please take it," he says. "If you are not thinking about yourself, think about your neighbor, or think about our hospitals."

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New COVID-19 rapid test guidelines go into effect Sept. 3

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Due to a nationwide shortage of COVID-19 rapid tests and increased community demand, Beacon will be prioritizing its use of the tests across the system beginning tomorrow, September 3.“In the last two weeks, for example, testing volumes at our MedPoint locations has increased 200 percent,” said Molly Kelly, RN, Director…

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