Kate Rowland can’t remember why she first started volunteering as a medical guardian with Honor Flight Chicago in 2016, but she does know why she keeps coming back. “It’s a consistently good experience,” the Board Certified Family Physician said.
Kate covers all aspects of medicine in her practice, splitting time between inpatient and outpatient care while also teaching in medical school. According to her, over the last month “pretty much every single aspect of our practice has changed.”
She described a Friday a few weeks ago that was full of well visits and other typical appointments in the office, but three days later they were telling everyone it is really risky to come out. Nearly the entire outpatient practice has been converted to telemedicine.
“We need to make sure people still have what they need,” she said. “They still get regular cough and colds, and they want to know if they have this terrible disease. ”
The inpatient side of Kate’s practice is “nutty.” Having seen a big uptick in patients admitted with respiratory symptoms, one whole wing has been converted into a COVID-19 wing where protective gear must be worn.
“It is brand new for us, not something we have ever done before,” she said. “Rules change very quickly. How fast can you learn a completely new form of medicine?”
Turns out, pretty quickly! Crediting a sense of “teamwork” that already existed, the entire hospital staff has gone through intense training.
“You have small groups of 10 or whatever, have the COO of the hospital in the same group as people from dietary and people from janitorial and whatnot. Everyone needs the same level of training. We are really all in there together. You all need to be pointing your finger in the same direction on this moving train, or people aren’t going to get what they need.”
All of this effort has not gone unnoticed, much to Kate’s surprise.
“I was not expecting all of the community solidarity that is happening in my neighborhood,” she said. “I was not expecting how much it would be different and how much we would be noticed.”
From cards and letters tucked under the windshield wipers in the doctor’s parking lot to donuts arriving gratis, community support has been there. We are proud to be a part of that support, taking the opportunity to say “thank you” to Kate and her teammates just as she says thank you to our veterans during their Day of Honor.
“We need to make sure people still have what they need. They still get regular cough and colds, and they want to know if they have this terrible disease.”