March 9, 2021 — One Year on the Frontline of COVID-19 (With Appreciation to Home Care's Workforce)

Mar

March 9, 2021 — One Year on the Frontline of COVID-19 (With Appreciation to Home Care's Workforce)
By: Nicholas Oliver, Executive Director

One year ago today, then Governor Gina Raimondo (D-RI) issued Executive Order 20-02 declaring a state of public health emergency in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic's impact on Rhode Island. Our state's frontline home care and hospice workforce has been working tirelessly to provide optimal healthcare to sub-acute and post-acute COVID-19 positive patients, in addition to their existing patients. Unfortunately, decisions made by our former Governor never prioritized home-based healthcare services. Our industry was of the last businesses to receive CARES Act funding to incentivize displaced workers to return to the frontline. This funding was restricted to only paraprofessional staff and did not bring many back into the workforce.

Those that remained on the frontline stayed true to our mission of "Advancing quality healthcare at home". Together, we reduced hospitalizations, addressed acute symptoms and distress at home when feasible and educated patients on COVID-19 exposure and testing. Now, we are in the process of vaccinating patients, including our non-ambulatory homebound patients. We can finally see daylight toward resuming aspects of our lives pre-COVID-19 and our Provider Members can slowly rebuild their operations outside of the most catastrophic public health emergency of our lifetime.

Thank you to all frontline and office staff employed by our Provider Members for your extended hours working in the community, bearing greater risk of exposure to this deadly virus to care for your patients. We appreciate your efforts to keep patients calm and educated, while still providing the quality care that they needed. We express gratitude for being of the first Rhode Islanders to become vaccinated against COVID-19 and being role models for the rest of the healthcare sector, your patients, their family caregivers and all Rhode Islanders that question the value of these vaccines.

We know that there are better days ahead! With your continuous support, we will get back to more peaceful times. Again, thank you for being the "Heart of Home Care" today and everyday.