Thursday, June 04, 2020
For Beaumont caregivers, the emotional stresses of caring for critically ill COVID-19 patients has been compounded by concerns over getting sick themselves and passing the virus on to their own loved ones. A generous gift from the PNC Foundation made it possible for frontline clinicians to receive temporary housing in 250 nearby hotel and dorm rooms to reduce the risk of exposure for others with whom they usually live.
“This is an incredibly important and thoughtful gift,” said Margaret Cooney Casey, president of the Beaumont Health Foundation. “For our clinicians who live with high-risk individuals, this offers peace of mind as they confront this pandemic head on. These caregivers are putting so much on the line to care for our community. We are very grateful to the PNC Foundation for this grant, which has helped ease worries and concerns for frontline team members who already are coping with so much.”
Because the virus is so transmissible, health care providers are at a greater risk than the average person of contracting COVID-19. And with the shortage of personal protective equipment that has characterized so much of this crisis, caregivers have felt even more vulnerable.
This increased risk has led to concern that caregivers could potentially transmit the virus to individuals they live with, including elderly individuals or those with compromised immune systems, who are most likely to be severely affected by the virus.
The hotel and dorm rooms supported by the PNC Foundation gift have given exhausted clinicians a place to rest, eat, sleep and recover between shifts.
PNC Foundation’s grant also provides for the cost of intensive professional cleaning once the clinicians are able to return home, providing a measure of safety for hotel guests and peace of mind for the organizations such as Oakland University that were temporarily housing these individuals.
This grant was one of the first made to the Beaumont Health Foundation’s Employee Support Fund, which has provided financial assistance for everything from housing and childcare to meals and transportation for our health care heroes.