Rehoboth Christian Hospital’s urgent request for clinical staff has resulted in additional healthcare professionals bringing much needed relief to nurses and patient care technicians who are providing care for patients battling COVID-19. On May 11, four nurses and five medical technicians from the N.M. Medical Reserve Corps began working at RMCH. Another group of eight volunteer healthcare professionals arrived May 14 and began caring for patients one day later.
The volunteer medical workers are from COVID Care Force, a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization out of Olathe, Kans. Dr. Gary Morsch, an emergency medicine physician, saw the need for emergency medical workers within a few weeks of the World Health Organization’s declaration that COVID-19 was a worldwide pandemic. He partnered with Docs Who Care and Heart to Heart International, organizations he helped start, to develop COVID Care Force.
Its mission is to mobilize healthcare professionals to deploy to hotspots and areas of critical healthcare staffing shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They have sent volunteers to New York and other areas around the country. Their focus now is to provide help to the Navajo Nation and McKinley County.
RMCH has also brought on a critical care physician, Dr. Brandon Murguia, who will arrive early next week. On May 12 The Governor Bill Richardson – Peterson Zah COVID-19 Navajo Families Relief Fund made a $10,000 donation to the Western Health Foundation, to help expedite the hiring of Dr. Murguia.
“Without an ICU specialist, many patients must be transferred to other facilities when they are in dangerously fragile conditions,” Richardson said in a press release. “We wanted to help the hospital avoid these transfers and the emotional toll they take on patients and families.”
“Our focus has always been to provide the best care possible for our patients,” RMCH Chief Medical Officer Dr. Valory Wangler said. “The influx of additional healthcare professionals will allow us to care for more people close to home and to give patients the individualized care they need.”
With additional staff on hand, RMCH will also be able to provide some relief to current staff members. Nurses and medical technicians have worked long hours, days at a time, without taking time off.
The additional staffing comes at a crucial time as our region has yet to reach its peak. “I am grateful for the additional help. I am also grateful and humbled by the commitment of our current staff, who have worked tirelessly to provide for our patients,” Wangler said. “We are committed to being here to care for our community and I appreciate the trust the community has placed in us for this care.”
