'We were just hoping to keep them alive'

SALEM — It was held outside the hospital, not inside, and during a lull in the COVID-19 pandemic, not at its height.

But a meeting between Congressman Seth Moulton and a group of doctors and nurses at North Shore Medical Center on Wednesday provided a glimpse of what has gone on inside the walls of the hospital since the arrival of the pandemic in March.

Moulton visited the hospital to thank what he called "our local heroes on the front line of the pandemic." As he stood in a circle with 10 doctors and nurses on an outdoor patio next to the emergency department, all wearing masks, they described the strain the pandemic has taken on them, and their fears about an inevitable second surge.

"We are steady and we are strong, but we are scared, too," Dr. Santosh Poudel said.

North Shore Medical Center had treated 4,438 patients for suspected or confirmed COVID-19 as of Wednesday. At the pandemic's peak there were 160 COVID-19 patients in the hospital at one time. On Wednesday there were six, and none in intensive care.

But the medical workers told Moulton they expect a resurgence of cases in the fall, one that could be compounded by the arrival of flu season. They say they are worried again about having enough personal protective equipment, testing and government funding to keep up.

When the pandemic hit in March, ICU nurse Molly Yeagley said nurses in the unit went from treating one patient each to three patients each.

"It was frightening," she said. "We felt as nurses we couldn't provide the care they needed. We were just hoping to keep them alive. It was very overwhelming."

"Every day was just riddled with anxiety," said Janet Flynn, who is also an ICU nurse.

Flynn noted the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on poor people and minorities, many of whom had to continue working and relied on public transportation. She said the hospital treated many middle-aged Hispanic men and middle-aged Black men and women.

"There weren't middle-aged white men and there weren't middle-aged white women," Flynn said.

She recalled the generosity of people donating food to medical workers, but felt like the food should be going to the families of poorer patients who were struggling with their main breadwinner in the hospital.

Poudel told Moulton there must be a better response to help people in more vulnerable communities in terms of education, personal protective equipment and testing.

Dr. Larissa Lucas, a geriatrician with North Shore Physicians Group, said there were 240 deaths in local nursing homes in April and May. She said smaller nursing homes were forced to compete with larger nursing homes for personal protective equipment, and staffs were short-handed when people called in sick.

"April and May was a nightmare," Lucas said. She praised the government for helping to set up the Boston Hope field hospital to handle extra patients, but wondered if those extra doctors and nurses could be put to better use at existing hospitals and nursing homes.

Dr. Mark Schechter, the chief of psychiatry at North Shore Medical Center, told Moulton the pandemic has taken a "traumatic" emotional toll on medical workers.

"We're very hard on ourselves," Schechter said. "We got through this one thing, but how can we do this again? It feels very uncertain now. We can't predict what's coming next."

The hospital's president and CEO, Dr. David Roberts, said later that "everybody's got PTSD about this."

After the discussion, Moulton said it was an "honor" to visit with the front-line workers.

"This is the first public event I've done in a while and I couldn't think of a better place to start than meeting our local heroes on the front line of the pandemic," he said. "What they went through was horrendous, and yet we're not adequately prepared for the next time. I certainly believe there will be a next time, probably this fall."

Moulton said the federal government needs to continue to push for more testing, personal protective equipment, and the "simple fact about being diligent about wearing masks and following guidelines."

Roberts thanked Moulton for listening to his staff's concerns.

"I wanted him to hear from them, not from me," Roberts said. "He heard a lot of honesty."