Mornings in the emergency department for the team at Salem Health begin with quiet and anticipation.
Nurse Heather Gatchet’s shift typically starts at 6:00. She packs her daughter’s lunch, drinks tea, and calls her mom from the car.
“My mom’s like my cup of coffee” Gatchet said. “To mentally psych myself up for what I’m walking into, almost a little panic before I come to work.”
More than seven hundred days have passed since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Oregon. Deep into the second year of the pandemic, the hospital where Gatchet works is adapting, yet again, to try to accommodate more patients than it has licensed beds for.
The hospital has been above 100% capacity for months, with patients doubled up — and even occasionally tripled up — in their rooms.
On the phone, Gatchet’s mom encourages her. “You’ve been doing this a long time,” she says. “I love you.”
Gatchet clocks in and walks into the break room, and her panic lifts.
“This is my team and it feels safe again,” she said.