These health care workers could have retired during the coronavirus pandemic. They risked their lives instead. – OregonLive

By Shoshana Dubnow

Sonia Brownshusband died onJune 10. Two weeks later, the 65-year-old registered nurse was back at work. Her husbands medical bills and a car payment loomed over her head.

She wanted to make sure all those things were taken care of before she retired, her son David said.

He and his sister begged her not to go back to work during the coronavirus pandemic explaining their concerns about her age and diabetes but she didnt listen.

She was like the Little Engine That Could. She just powered through everything, her son said.

But her invincibility couldnt withstand COVID-19, and on July 29 she died after contracting the deadly virus.

Browns death is far from unusual. Despite evidence from theCenters for Disease Control and Preventionthat adults 65 and older are at a higher risk from COVID-19, Kaiser Health News and The Guardian have found that 338 health care workers in that age group continued to work and likely died of complications from the virus after exposure on the job. Some were in their 80s oftentimes physicians or registered nurses who cherished decades-long relationships with their patients and didnt see retirement as an option.

The workers had a variety of motivations for risking their lives during the pandemic. Some felt pressured by employers to compensate for staffing shortages as the virus swept through departments. Others felt a higher sense of duty to their profession. Now their families are left to grapple with the same question: Would their loved ones still be alive if they had stayed home?

Aleyamma Johnwas what her son, Ginu, described as a prayerful woman. Her solace came from working and caring for others. Her 38-year nursing career started inMumbai, India. She emigrated with her husband toDubaiin theUnited Arab Emirates, where she worked for several years and had her two children. In 2002, the family moved toNew York, and she took a job atNYC Health+ Hospitals in Queens.

In early March, as cases surged acrossNew York, Johns son asked his 65-year-old mother to retire. Her lungs were already weakened by an inflammatory disease, sarcoidosis.

We told her very clearly, Mom, this isnt something that we should take lightly, and you definitely need to stay home.

I dont feel like the hospital will allow me to do that, she responded.

Her son described the camaraderie his mother shared with her co-workers, a bond that grew deeper during the pandemic. Many of her fellow nurses got sick themselves, and John felt she had to step up.

Some of her co-workers were quarantined (and did) not come into work, he said. Her department took a pretty heavy hit.

By the third week of March, she started showing symptoms of COVID-19. A few days in, she suggested it might be best for her to go to the hospital.

I think she knew it was not going to go well, her son said. But she found it in her heart to give us strength, which I thought was just insanely brave.

John ended up on a ventilator, something she had assured her son wouldnt be necessary. Her family was observing a virtualPalm SundayserviceApril 5when they got the call that she had died.

We prayed that she would be able to come back, but that didnt happen, her son said.

His mother and her husband, Johnny, who retired a few years ago, had been waiting to begin their next adventure.

If organizations cared about their staff, especially staff who were vulnerable, if they provided for them and protected them, all of this could have been prevented, the son said.

In non-pandemic times,Sheena Milesconsidered herself semi-retired. She worked every other weekend atScott Regional HospitalinMorton, Mississippi, mainly because she loved nursing and her patients. WhenScott Countyemerged as a hot spot for the virus, Sheena worked four weekends in a row.

Her son, Tom Miles, a member ofMississippis House of Representatives, called her one night to remind her she did not need to go to work.

You dont understand, Sheena Miles told her son. I have an oath to do this. I dont have a choice.

Over Easter weekend, she began exhibiting COVID-19-like symptoms. By Thursday, her husband drove her to theUniversity of Mississippi Medical CenterinJackson.

She walked in and she never came out, Tom Miles said.

He said his mom laid her life down for the residents ofMorton.

She knew the chances that she was taking, he said. She just felt it was her duty to serve and to be there for people.

Serving the community also was at the heart of Dr.Robert Ray Hullsfamily medicine clinic inRogers, Arkansas. He opened the clinic in 1972 and, according to his son Keith, had no intentions of leaving until his last breath.

He was one of the first family physicians in northwestArkansas, the son said. Several people asked him if he was going to retire. His answer was always no.

At the age of 78,Dr. Hullcontinued to make house calls, black bag in hand. His wife worked alongside him in the office. His son said the whole staff took proper precautions to keep the virus at bay, so when his father tested positive for COVID-19, it came as a shock.

Dr. Hulls son wasnt able to visit him at the hospital before he died onJune 7. The son said the funeral was even harder. Due to COVID-19 restrictions on crowd sizes, he had to ask patients fromArkansas,OklahomaandMissourito stay home.

Theres not a coliseum, arena or stadium that would have held his funeral, the son said. Everybody knew my dad.

Nancy MacDonald, at 74, got bored at home. Thats why her daughter, Bethany, said retirement never stuck for her. So in 2017, MacDonald took a job as a receptionist atOrchard View Manor, a nursing home inEast Providence, Rhode Island.

Although technically she worked the night shift, her co-workers could rely on her to pick up extra shifts without question.

If somebody called her and said, Oh, Im not feeling well. I cant come in, she was right there. That was just the way she was, her daughter said.

Nursing homes across the country have struggled to contain breakouts of COVID-19, andOrchard Viewwas no exception. By mid-April, the facility reportedly had 20 deaths. MacDonalds position was high-contact; residents and staff were in and out of the reception area all day.

At the onset of the pandemic,Orchard Viewhad a limited supply of PPE. MacDonalds daughter said they prioritized giving it to workers on the floor, primarily those handling patient care. Her mothers position was on the back burner.

When they gave her a(n N95) mask, they also gave her a brown paper bag, she said. When she left work, they told her to put the mask in the bag.

MacDonalds managers reiterated that she was an essential employee, so she continued showing up. In conversations with her daughter, however, she was fearful about what might happen. At her age, she was considered high risk. MacDonald saw the isolation thatOrchard Viewresidents experienced when they contracted the coronavirus. She didnt want that to be her.

She was afraid she was going to get sick, her daughter said. She was afraid to die alone.

Following her death onApril 25, theOccupational Safety and Health Administrationopened an investigation into the facility. So far,Orchard Viewhas been fined more than $15,000 for insufficient respiratory protection and recording criteria.

A spokesperson forOrchard Viewtold Kaiser Health News the facility had extensive infection control. The facility declined to comment further.

Bethany MacDonaldbelieves health care systems often exclude receptionists, janitors and technical workers from conversations on protecting the front line.

It doesnt matter what the job is, they are on the front line. You dont have to be a doctor to be on the front line, she said.

Kaiser Health Newsis a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of theHenry J. Kaiser Family Foundation,which is not affiliated withKaiser Permanente.

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These health care workers could have retired during the coronavirus pandemic. They risked their lives instead. - OregonLive