OakBend Medical Center’s Modern-Day Heroes Battle COVID-19 on a Collaborative Front

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COVER STORY | By M.G. Angulo  | Photos by Alisa Murray Photography –

When asked to leave a message for those who will undoubtedly study the coronavirus pandemic decades from now, OakBend Medical Center CEO Joe Freudenberger, offers a rare one — it comes from the perspective of both an everyday citizen and the leader of a hospital. “I would say it was war without anyone shooting at you,” he said somberly. “The enemy was invisible to the naked eye. It was unknown, unstudied and unpredictable. COVID-19 has had a strangling hold on the economy and society’s operations, but the increasing deaths are at the core of the pandemic’s devastation,” Freudenberger said.

Since the onset of the pandemic, OakBend’s ICU has been nearly full for the entire duration. “The death rate was draining to our staff,” said Freudenberger in a dismal tone. “But they came back to work the next day, and the next, and the next, and they work in the most stressful environment you can imagine. They are heroes in every sense of the word. At OakBend and every hospital across the country, we have modern-day heroes.”

A Collaborative Approach

As the community began to succumb to the virus, OakBend Medical Center personnel did not have the luxury of panic. Instead, the hospital’s physicians, specialists and leaders formed a COVID-19 task force. This team of medical minds cooperated to battle the spread of the virus and manage the treatment of infected patients. The team quickly decided to open a separate hospital unit for COVID-19 patients according to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Patients who tested positive for COVID-19 were placed on the unit to be cared for by staff and recover in a supervised setting. Staff wore full personal protective equipment (PPE) on the floor, which was sealed off with protective barriers to protect other patients in the hospital.

The team meets weekly on Tuesday to discuss the current coronavirus trends, concerns, treatment protocols and care for COVID-19 patients. The hospital’s emergency management team already had protocols in place for major unexpected events, so forming a COVID-19 task force was a natural step forward. Through this team, “We learned how to manage the pandemic for the safety of our employees and for our patients,” said Freudenberger.

Dr. Long Cao, the director of Cardiology at OakBend Medical Group, added that the effectiveness of the hospital’s COVID-19 task force stems from its consistency. On this team, there is “no second-guessing each other’s protocols,” Dr. Cao said.  “We discuss any changes to protocols and treatments and what we determine is applied to all of our patients. Every single COVID-19 patient receives the same care, and they are treated from A to Z.”

Freudenberger said the task force is key to OakBend’s management of the pandemic. “We set this up immediately because a collaborative approach is what was needed to fight COVID-19, and we wanted the right voices in the room,” he said. “You must fight as a team. Everyone must be coordinated in their actions or you won’t be effective.”

The Ultimate Expression of Gratitude

Dr. Cao remembers the first coronavirus cases that came to OakBend and the uncertainty surrounding them. “There wasn’t a fear at that point because we didn’t know much about it,” he said.

By May, the fight against the spread of the virus became more urgent – and more real.  Both Freudenberger and Dr. Cao recounted the roller coaster ride of cases and deaths increasing, then decreasing, only to surge again.

“When it hit us the second time . . . I mean, we were already worn out from the first time,” Dr. Cao said. “It felt defeating.”

Freudenberger and Dr. Cao expressed their gratitude for the support and the praise given to healthcare workers across the country. “There are people from the community who reach out in so many ways, with so many forms of appreciation for our staff,” Freudenberger said. “I am very grateful for their kindness and support.”

Community members and local businesses stepped up to show their support by donating meals, masks, additional PPE, toiletries and clothing for staff spending long hours at the hospital, and even medical equipment designed to keep staff protected.

“The ultimate expression of thankfulness is to adhere to the restrictions and warnings regarding COVID-19,” Dr. Cao said. “This virus is serious. It can affect anyone, people can be asymptomatic, and it is difficult to predict how someone will be affected.”

Both of Dr. Cao’s grandparents, whom he said obeyed pandemic restrictions and “didn’t go anywhere,” recently passed away from complications caused by the virus. They spent their last days at home, as they requested.

This tribulation, that he and so many others are enduring, is why it is crucial that the pandemic be taken seriously. “It’s been a year,” he said, letting the words sink in. “It’s been a year of this, and people are becoming nonchalant. As a healthcare worker, you feed on people recovering. That’s the reward. That’s the instant satisfaction,” Dr. Cao shared. The pandemic almost drained healthcare workers dry of that feeling.

“When you do everything right, when you follow all the protocols, when you’ve cranked everything to the max, and you see them continue to deteriorate? And the only thing you can do is watch it happen?” He lets the questions hang in the air for a moment. “It is depressing,” he concluded. “The image is burned into your mind.”

But Dr. Cao and OakBend Medical Center did not let that image distract them from saving the community members that they could. As of this writing, there have been 455 recoveries of COVID-19 at OakBend Medical Center.

“I’m impressed and thankful for how OakBend has been able to handle this,” Dr. Cao said. “We may not be a huge institution with a huge backing, but we put community first.”

For more information on OakBend Medical Center, visit oakbendmedcenter.org.

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